[Strongyloides westeri Ihle, 1917 (Nematoda: Strongyloididae. II. Parasitological and haematological features of experimental infection (author's transl)].

Experimental infections using 600,000 infective larvae of Strongyloides westeri were carried out in seven worm-free Shetland ponies, four foals and thee yearlings. In the foals, the prepatent period varied from ten to fourteen days, the patent period ranging from forty-three to eighty-three days. Within approximately two months after infection, a decrease in the concentration of haemoglobin and an increase in the beta-globulin fraction of the protein pattern of the serum, practically coinciding with the maximum S. westeri faecal egg counts, were recorded. In the yearlings, the prepatent period varied from sixteen to eighteen days, the patent period ranging from fifty-five to seventy-three days. The experimental infection by an identical dose in a yearling which had previously had S. westeri infection as a foal, did not become patent. Unlike the foals, the yearlings did not show any changes in the haematological parameters following experimental infection.