Stibocaptate (Astiban, Hoffman - La Roche) killed third stage larvae of Brugia pahangi in vitro at 50 p.p.m. but had no effect on microfilariae at 1 × 104 p.p.m. No larvae developed in infected mosquitoes fed 1% stibocaptate in 10% sucrose. It was neither micro-nor macrofilaricidal in neither jirds or cats but did affect embryogenesis.

A satisfactory antigen for use in serological studies of nematodiasis in sheep has been prepared from Bunostomum trigonocephalum.

The investigations are outlined and a method for its routine preparation from field material is described.

The worm burden in grazing ewes was studied. Analysis of the results showed that correcting worm egg counts (e.p.g. fresh faeces) for variations in faecal D.M. content and in total faeces output is not of any great benefit unless precise information is available.

Data are also presented which suggest that under normal circumstances variations in the sub-clinical worm burden of adult grazing ewes are not related to any variations in food intake.

In two previous papers (Dissanaike et al., 1957a and 1957b) we described the technique of tagging Culex fatigans and Armigeres subalbatus (=obturbans) with P32 to obtain high beta activities. Filarial larvae were made to develop to the infective stage in these activated mosquitoes and were found to have beta activities high enough for detection individually.

Here we describe a new species of the genus Saccocoelioides found parasitizing Astyanax dissimilis Garavello & Sampaio, Psalidodon bifasciatus (Garavello and Sampaio) and Bryconamericus ikaa Casciotta, Almirón & Azpelicueta from the Iguazu National Park, Misiones province, Argentina. Saccocoelioides miguelmontesi n. sp. was studied based on morphological and molecular (28S rDNA and COI mtDNA sequences) data. The COI mtDNA tree indicated that the specimens collected from the three fish hosts are conspecific, with an intragroup p-distance of 0%. The new species shows an intermediate morphological configuration between the diminutive and robust forms described for Saccocoelioides by Curran (2018). Although, in the 28S rDNA tree, it is placed in a well-supported clade with the two robust species analysed (S. elongatus and S. magnus; p-distance of 1 and 2%, respectively), it differs from the robust group by the range of body size, mature egg size, oral and ventral sucker size, sucker ratio, oral sucker to pharynx ratio, and post-cecal or post-testis/body length percentage. Our results led us to redefine the robust group as having eggs shorter or equal in length to the pharynx. Saccocoelioides miguelmontesi n. sp. the 10th species reported from Argentina and the 7th species within the robust group.

Via molecular and morphological analyses, we describe adult specimens of a new species of Versteria (Cestoda: Taeniidae) infecting mink and river otter (Carnivora: Mustelidae) in Western Canada, as well as larval forms from muskrat and mink. These sequences closely matched those reported from adult specimens from Colorado and Oregon, as well as larval infections in humans and a captive orangutan. We describe here a new species from British Columbia and Alberta (Canada), Versteria rafei n. sp., based upon morphological diagnostic characteristics and genetic distance and phylogeny. Versteria rafei n. sp. differs from the three other described species of the genus in the smaller scolex and cirrus sac. It also differs from V. mustelae (Eurasia) and V. cuja (South America) by having an armed cirrus, which is covered in hair-like bristles, and in the shape of its hooks, with a long thorn-like blade, and short or long handle (vs. a short sharply curved blade and no difference in handle size in previously described species). The poorly known V. brachyacantha (Central Africa) also has an armed cirrus and similarly shaped hooks. However, it differs from the new species in the number and size of hooks. Phylogenetic analysis of the cox1 and nad1 mitochondrial regions showed that our specimens clustered with isolates from undescribed adults and larval infections in North America, and separate from V. cuja, confirming them to be a distinct species from the American Clade.

In an earlier paper Goodey (1940) gave a detailed description of the morphology of three species of Anguillulina viz.: A. multicincta (Cobb) Goodey, A. erythrinae (Zimmermann) Goodey and A. robusta (de Man) Goodey. All three species are associated with plant roots: A. multicincta is a parasite of banana roots, A. erythrinae is parasitic on the roots of certain common grasses and cereals such as Agrostis stolonifera, Lolium perenne and oats (the writer has also found it on hop roots), A. robusta though associated with grass roots has not, to the writer's knowledge, been found within plant tissues. In the case of all three species phasmids were easily recognized on the female tails and were described and figured but they were not seen on the male tails and it was assumed that they were probably absent.

The effects in vivo of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg of luxabendazole (LBZ) on the tegument of Fasciola hepatica have been examined 48 h, 7 days and 14 days post-treatment of experimentally-infected rats. As early as 48 h post-treatment, the drug is shown to provoke significant damage to the tegument. The pathological phenomena characterizing LBZ damage are blebbing of the apical plasmalemma, formation of microvillus-like projections over the free surface, swelling of the basal infolds and stimulation of autophagy. The spines are often fractured; the tegument in the vicinity of spines seems more strongly altered than that in other foci. The basal layer is often changed, from increase of electron density to lack of integrity with the apical cytoplasm. The progress of the ultrastructural damage with time is not expressed. However, cytochemical data show that at longer post-treatment intervals the surface-coat structure becomes irregular and patches of ruthenium red positive material of variable thickness are focally accumulated. Only a slight dose-effect is noted 48 h after LBZ application when the alterations provoked by 5 mg/kg are less evident than those by 10 and 20 mg/kg.

A new species of the genus Oscheius, Oscheius cyrus n. sp., collected in the moist soils taken from forest heights in the north of Iran, is recorded. A comprehensive description, comprising molecular (internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S, and 28S rDNA genes) information, morphometrics data, light microscope and scanning electron microscope images, is supplied. The species resembles Oscheius myriophilus. However, the highest ranges for female body length, female tail, infective juvenile tail length, median bulb, absence of epiptygma and lateral field incisures number vary. The new species was distinguished from Oscheius insectivorus by the general lip region. The male was not found. Molecular analysis showed that the new species has the most similarity to O. myriophilus both in the ITS and 18S regions. Morphological and molecular data confirmed its belonging to the Insectivora-group. Furthermore, the species of Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense was reported as a dominant associated bacterium of the new Oscheius species. Finally, the mortality of the host after seven days varied from 20% to 82.5%, depending on nematodes’ concentration.

The establishment of reliable serological methods for cysticercosis in pigs is important for the surveillance, control and prevention of taeniosis/cysticercosis in humans as well as in pigs to prevent economic loss. Both ELISA and immunoblot using glycoproteins (GPs) purified by a single step of preparative iso-electric focusing, which are highly useful for human cysticercosis, have been applied for a serological study in pigs naturally infected with Taenia solium. All sera from pigs showed similar responses to those in human cysticercosis. Therefore, it is expected that both ELISA and immunoblots using GPs would be useful in differentiating infected pigs from uninfected ones.

Echinostoma caproni tail loss was studied in vitro in the presence of the toxicant copper sulphate (CuSO4) in concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 000 mg l?1 in standardized artificial spring water (pH 7.4, osmolarity 34 mOsm kg?1 H2O, Ca2+ 20 mg l?1) at 23°C. Tail loss was also studied in the absence of toxicants during in vivo encystment of the cercariae in juvenile Biomphalaria glabrata. As the concentration of CuSO4 increased, the percentage of cercarial tail loss increased. By 2 h in 10 000 mg l?1, 1000 mg l?1 and 100 mg l?1 CuSO4, 50%, 23% and 13%, respectively, of the cercariae had lost their tails. In the in vivo studies, by 1 h PI, 59±5% of cercariae had lost their tails and only 4±1% of the cercariae were actively swimming in the multi-well dishes. At 3 h PI, 72±3% of the cercariae began to form cysts within the snails.

A new isolate of Mesorhabditis monhystera (Bütschli, 1873) Dougherty, 1955 is described and illustrated with morphological and molecular data. The phylogenetic analysis based on the D2/D3 segment of 28S rDNA using the Bayesian inference method, revealed monophyly of the genus Mesorhabditis as the subordinate taxa clustered in one clade. The clade further divided into two subclades representing the Monhystera-group and Spiculigera-group with 100% posterior probability values. However, GenBank sequences of several species constituting the Monhystera-group, showed high similarity and very little genetic divergence (98–99%) of up to 4–5 bases. In order to ascertain the status of those isolates, detailed morphological comparison is provided along with a pictorial key. A sequence-based phylogeography of haplogroups of Mesorhabditis using the median-joining network method, was also inferred. The results suggested the need for morphological validation of a species before its sequences are deposited in GenBank.

This is the first study reporting parasites from the freshwater cyprinid Oxynoemacheilus angorae (Steindachner 1897) caught in Nilüfer Stream, Bursa, in the Northwest Anatolian Region of Turkey. Allocreadium bursensis n. sp. was described from the intesine of O.angorae based on morphological and genetic characteristics. Allocreadium bursensis n. sp. was differentiated from other Allocreadium spp. in having a combination of external (ventral and oral suckers ratio; body length and width and its ratio to forebody) and internal (cirrus pouch position; uterus extension in hindbody; egg size; disposition of anterior border of vitellarium; esophagus length) features. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, Bayesian inferrence, and neighbor joining analyses of sequence data strongly supported the hypothesis that A. bursensis is nested within the clade of Allocreadium species hosted by cypriniform fish, and it is more closely related to the Far Eastern species A. pseudoisoporum (Primorsky region, Russia) than to the African A. apokryfi. According to genetic p-distances, the taxonomic status of trematodes collected in Turkey was established as independent relative to nine of the valid Allocreadium spp.: 1.8–5.8% in 28S gene and 18.8–22.6% in cox1 gene. The present study increases the number of Allocreadium species and their definitive hosts recorded in Turkey and raises the number of Palearctic representatives of Allocreadium spp. to 26.

Epidemiological studies of Echinococcus multilocularis infections in definitive hosts require a reliable and economic diagnostic method. In this study, the current copro-DNA examination technique was modified by increasing the faecal amounts tested and adding a step to neutralize the faeces before DNA extraction. Reliability of the modified method was evaluated using rectal faecal samples from red foxes and comparing them with intestinal worms detected using the sedimentation and counting technique (SCT) following necropsy. The modified copro-DNA examination method demonstrated 93.9% sensitivity (138/147) on the SCT. Its detectability increased depending on the worm burden, and the sensitivity was 100% in cases harbouring over 1000 worms. From 111 SCT-negative cases, six (5.4%) were copro-DNA-positive, and all were confirmed as E. multilocularis via sequencing analysis. Five of the remaining 105 SCT-negative cases (4.8%) retained polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors in the extracted solution, suggesting that approximately 5% of the red fox faeces retained these inhibitors after treatment with the present copro-DNA extraction method. Although further evaluation is needed for faeces deposited in the wild, the present copro-DNA examination technique will help monitor the E. multilocularis prevalence in definitive hosts. When used for detailed evaluations of endemicity (e.g. changes in infection pressure or spread in non-endemic areas), the absence of PCR inhibitors should be confirmed, and multiple trials on faecal subsamples are recommended.

Of 17 Trichinella isolates from domestic pigs and wild boars (Sus scrofa) in regions where Trichinella nativa is widespread among sylvatic animals, two wild boars from Estonia were found to be naturally infected with this Trichinella species. The other 15 animals were infected with Trichinella spiralis. Trichinella nativa is tolerant to freezing when in the muscles of carnivores. The biological characteristics and temperature tolerance of this species in swine need to be further investigated if pork is certified for consumption following freezing.