Observations on Trichostrongylus tenuis Infestation in Domestic and Game Birds in the United States

Extract

Clinical trichostrongylosis, caused by T. tenuis in the caeca, previously known in epizootic form among gallinaceous birds in Great Britain, is here reported for the first time in this country, in native domestic geese in the District of Columbia and in imported pheasants in Michigan.

In cultures made from caecal contents of infected pheasants, eggs hatched in 36–38 hours; the infective larval stage might be reached as early as the sixth day (fourth day after hatching). Moisture being present, migrating larvae, retracted within the cuticular sheath, resisted an average temperature of about −3° C. (range +3° to −20° C.) for 4 months, proving infective for a bird host at the end of that period. The chicken, turkey and guinea-fowl were successfully infected with cultures derived from pheasants; attempts to infect the duck and pigeon with cultures from pheasants, and to infect the duck with cultures from geese, were unsuccessful. Development to adults in bird hosts took place in a minimum of 7 days after infection; the size of adults varied in different birds, being greater in the chicken than in the pheasant, and still greater in the turkey. In early stages of infection diarrhoea from the caeca, with passage of mucus and blood, occurred; later all discharge from the caeca ceased. The pathological picture was that of acute typhlitis, with the trichostrongyles lying in close contact with or penetrating the mucosa. Reinfection being prevented, symptoms were of fairly short duration, and the infestation tended to die out in about 2 months.