Experimental Life-Cycle of Varestrongylus eleguneniensis (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) in a Captive Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and a Muskox (Ovibos moschatus moschatus).

The life-cycle of a recently described protostrongylid lungworm, Varestrongylus eleguneniensis, which infects caribou, muskoxen, and moose from Arctic and boreal regions of North America, was completed experimentally for the first time. A native North American slug species, Deroceras laeve, was infected with the first-stage larvae (L1) isolated from the feces of wild muskoxen to generate third-stage larvae (L3). These were administered to a captive reindeer calf (250 L3) and an adult captive muskox (380 L3). The prepatent periods for the reindeer and muskox were 56 and 72 days, respectively. Patency lasted for only 19 days in the reindeer, and fecal larval counts were very low (0.09-1.53 larvae per gram of feces). Patency in the muskox was at least 210 days, and likely over 653 days, and the fecal larval counts were higher (0.06-17.8 larvae per gram of feces). This work provides the first experimental completion of the life-cycle of V. eleguneniensis.