Transmission Of Cercariae Research Articles

The Role of Light and Dark on the Dispersal and Transmission ofEchinostoma caproni(Digenea: Echinostomatidae) Cercariae

ABSTRACT: Abiotic stimuli are critical in the dispersal and transmission of trematode cercariae from the first intermediate host to the next host in the life cycle. The role of 2 abiotic stimuli, light and gravity, were examined in the dispersal and transmission of the cercariae of Echinostoma caproni in a laboratory setting. Nearly 100% of cercariae placed in a vertical chamber that permitted upward migration with a marginal probability of return swam to the surface in both light and dark conditions, suggesting that a positive phototaxis is not involved in dispersal and that a negative geotaxis may be the critical component in the vertical migration. The presence of a sentinel snail (Biomphalaria glabrata) in the bottom portion of the transmission chamber resulted in a significant reduction of cercariae dispersing upward and a significantly higher intensity of metacercariae in snails under lighted conditions than in the dark. In a light/dark choice experiment the prevalence and intensity of metacercaria...

Transmission of fish-borne zoonotic trematodes (Heterophyidae) to common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is independent of density of fish and trematodes

Fish-borne zoonotic trematodes (FZTs) can cause major human health problems. The aim of this study was to quantify the transmission of parapleurolophocercous cercariae to common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and to study the effect of the density of cercariae and the density of fish on transmission with respect to the volume of water and surface area of the bottom. Fish were kept individually either as controls (n= 91) or were exposed to 250 cercariae in tubes with a volume of 25, 50, 100, 250 or 500 ml water (n= 190) with a surface area of 4, 12, 21, 30 or 49 cm2 (n= 195). The dose to which the fish were exposed was kept constant. Infection occurred in 94-100% of fish, with a mean of 15-18 metacercariae per fish and the proportion of FZTs established at 0.06-0.07 metacercariae per cercariae per fish. Neither the prevalence of infection with FZTs nor the number of metacercariae per fish nor the proportion of FZTs established were significantly associated with differences in the density of cercariae or the density of fish per ml water or per cm2 surface area. Thus, it was concluded that the transmission of cercariae to fish is independent of density.

Seasonal occurrence of Cyathocotyle bushiensis Khan, 1962 (Digenea: Cyathocotylidae) metacercariae in the intermediate host Bithynia tentaculata L. (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia)

Cyathocotyle bushiensis Khan, 1962 (Digenea) has been associated with late-summer duck mortality in southern Quebec. In an attempt to relate these die-offs with seasonal availability of the infective metacercariae to the ducks, two intermediate host (Bithynia tentaculata L.) populations were regularly sampled in 1984 and 1985. Prevalence varied between 5.3 and 57.3% at the South River, and between 9.1 and 49.7% at Lake St. Francis over the period of the study. Maximum abundances at the two localities were 1.38 and 1.66 metacercariae per snail, respectively. No close link between availability of metacercariae and periods of duck mortality was found, as the total prevalence and abundance of the cysts decreased through the summer, probably as a consequence of snail recruitment and low cercarial transmission rates, and increased in the autumn. Prevalence and abundance of metacercariae increased with snail age, estimated by both size and annual growth lines, and the metacercariae were found to be aggregated in the snail population. Comparison of infection levels reached at the end of the two sampling seasons by two year classes of B. tentaculata suggested that transmission of cercariae was higher in 1984 than in 1985. This was supported by the results of exposure of sentinel snails in an infected area during the 2 years of the study: transmission was detected in 1984 but not in 1985. In addition to C. bushiensis metacercariae, the sentinel snails acquired Sphaeridiotrema globulus (Rudolphi, 1814), another potential duck pathogen, in both years. The peak rate of transmission of S. globulus metacercariae occurred in August.