Infectivity and development of the gamma-irradiated first stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

Effects of gamma-ray irradiation on the first-stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis were studied. There was a significant reduction in the infectivity of the 10,000 R-irradiated larvae to intermediate host snails compared to other groups. In the final host infection, both the worm populations and worm body length of irradiated groups differed markedly from those of the non-irradiated control.