d'Ovidio Dario, Nermut Jirí, Adami Chiara, Santoro Mario
Private Veterinary Practitioner, Arzano, Italy.
Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, České Budějovice, Czechia.
Front Vet Sci. 2019 Mar 26;6:88. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00088. eCollection 2019.
Gastropods comprise nearly 60,000 species of aquatic as well as terrestrial mollusks, primarily snails and slugs. The giant African land snail () is one of the most popular pet snails worldwide. This gastropod mollusk is known as the intermediate host of several parasites that cause severe diseases in pets, free-ranging vertebrates, and humans. The aim of this survey was to investigate the occurrence of parasites in giant African land snails kept as pets in southern Italy. Fresh fecal samples were collected from a total of 60 giant African land snails kept in three private collections in Campania region (Italy). In addition, microscopic analysis of mucus and histological examination of biopsy samples from the foot muscle of 30 individual snails were performed. Coprological examination revealed the presence of rhabditid nematodes identified by both morphological and molecular assessment as in two out of three examined samples, and sp., and in one coprological sample. No parasites were detected in the muscle biopsy samples, or in the mucus. Due to the potential harm of rhabditid nematodes, their presence in giant African land snails potentially in contact with both pets and humans should not be disregarded.
腹足纲动物包括近60000种水生和陆生软体动物，主要是蜗牛和蛞蝓。非洲大蜗牛是全球最受欢迎的宠物蜗牛之一。这种腹足纲软体动物是几种寄生虫的中间宿主，这些寄生虫会在宠物、自由放养的脊椎动物和人类中引发严重疾病。本次调查的目的是研究意大利南部作为宠物饲养的非洲大蜗牛体内寄生虫的感染情况。从坎帕尼亚地区（意大利）三个私人收藏处饲养的总共60只非洲大蜗牛中采集了新鲜粪便样本。此外，还对30只蜗牛足部肌肉的黏液进行了显微镜分析，并对活检样本进行了组织学检查。粪便学检查显示，在三份检测样本中的两份中发现了经形态学和分子评估鉴定为的小杆线虫，在一份粪便样本中发现了类小杆线虫属物种和。在肌肉活检样本或黏液中未检测到寄生虫。由于小杆线虫具有潜在危害，在可能与宠物和人类接触的非洲大蜗牛中发现此类线虫的情况不容忽视。
