Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy.
Parasitology. 2012 Apr;139(4):530-6. doi: 10.1017/S0031182011002198. Epub 2012 Feb 16.
In spite of its wide distribution among dogs and the evidence of its implication as a zoonotic agent, scant information is available on the biology of Acanthocheilonema reconditum (Spirurida, Onchocercidae). In this study, blood samples from 152 Sicilian dogs were examined for A. reconditum microfilariae at the beginning of the study and 1 year later. The periodicity of microfilaraemia was investigated by bleeding 2 highly microfilaraemic dogs twice a day for 10 days and, later on, every 2 weeks for 1 year and a third animal every 3 h for 96 h. Fleas and ticks infesting dogs were collected and dissected for the detection of A. reconditum larvae. The prevalence of infestation was 11·2% (17/152) and 13·3% (16/120) at the beginning and at the end of the study, with a 1 year cumulative incidence of 5·9%. Although dogs bled twice a day showed a higher number of microfilariae in most of the morning samples, the absence of any circadian rhythm was suggested by data of the third experiment conducted by bleeding a dog every 3 h for 4 days. A. reconditum developing forms were detected in 5·1% (4/78) of dissected fleas, but not in any of the 272 ticks. The study provides new insights into the biology and ecology of this dog filarioid in its definitive and intermediate hosts.
尽管细粒棘球蚴（Spirurida，Onchocercidae）在犬类中广泛分布，并被认为是一种人畜共患的病原体，但关于其生物学特性的信息却很少。在这项研究中，在研究开始时和 1 年后，对来自 152 只西西里犬的血液样本进行了细粒棘球蚴微丝蚴检查。通过每天两次给 2 只高度微丝蚴血症的狗采血 10 天，并在随后的 1 年中每 2 周采血 1 次，以及对第 3 只动物每 3 小时采血 96 小时，研究了微丝蚴血症的周期性。收集并解剖寄生在犬身上的跳蚤和蜱，以检测细粒棘球蚴幼虫。在研究开始和结束时，感染的流行率分别为 11.2%（17/152）和 13.3%（16/120），1 年的累积发病率为 5.9%。尽管每天两次采血的狗在大多数早上的样本中显示出更多的微丝蚴，但第 3 个实验的数据表明不存在任何昼夜节律，该实验通过每隔 3 小时给一只狗采血 4 天进行。在 5.1%（4/78）解剖的跳蚤中检测到细粒棘球蚴发育阶段，但在 272 只蜱中均未检测到。该研究为这种犬类血线虫在其终末宿主和中间宿主中的生物学和生态学提供了新的见解。
