Craig L E, Kinsella J M, Lodwick L J, Cranfield M R, Strandberg J D
Division of Comparative Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
J Zoo Wildl Med. 1998 Sep;29(3):331-7.
Necropsies performed between 1989 and 1995 on 15 African rope squirrels (Funisciurus substriatus) and 20 African ground squirrels (Xerus erythropus) from the Baltimore Zoo revealed 13 cases of gongylonemiasis. Nematodes were embedded in the epithelium of the esophagus, pharynx, buccal mucosa, and tongue, resulting in varying degrees of esophagitis, pharyngitis, stomatitis, and glossitis, respectively. Routine fecal examinations were negative, and the nematodes appeared to be unaffected by repeated treatments with ivermectin. Most of the affected animals had shown clinical signs of dyspnea and/or inanition and emaciation. Suppurative rhinitis was also a frequent finding at necropsy and was associated with the presence of the nematodes in eight animals. Dissection of whole nematodes from formalin-fixed specimens revealed morphologic features consistent with Gongylonema macrogubernaculum, a species previously only reported in nonhuman primates. The squirrels were housed in the same building with numerous primate species, and a review of pathology records revealed esophageal gongylonemiasis in three lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus), lingual gongylonemiasis in a spotnose monkey (Cercopithecus buettikoferi), and buccal gongylonemiasis in a brown-headed tamarin (Saguinus fuscicollis). Examination of whole nematodes dissected from one of the lion-tailed macaques also demonstrated the unique morphology of G. macrogubernaculum. Nematodes belonging to the species Gongylonema are acquired by ingestion of the intermediate host, the cockroach. This is the first report of G. macrogubernaculum in a nonprimate species and suggests that captive African squirrels can serve as reservoir hosts for this parasite in a zoo environment.
1989年至1995年间，对巴尔的摩动物园的15只非洲绳松鼠（Funisciurus substriatus）和20只非洲地松鼠（Xerus erythropus）进行了尸检，发现13例筒线虫病。线虫嵌入食管、咽、颊黏膜和舌的上皮，分别导致不同程度的食管炎、咽炎、口腔炎和舌炎。常规粪便检查为阴性，线虫似乎不受伊维菌素反复治疗的影响。大多数受影响的动物表现出呼吸困难和/或虚弱及消瘦的临床症状。尸检时化脓性鼻炎也很常见，8只动物的化脓性鼻炎与线虫的存在有关。从福尔马林固定标本中解剖出的整条线虫显示出与巨柄筒线虫一致的形态特征，该物种此前仅在非人类灵长类动物中报道过。这些松鼠与许多灵长类物种饲养在同一栋建筑中，病理记录回顾显示，3只狮尾猕猴（Macaca silenus）有食管筒线虫病，1只斑鼻猴（Cercopithecus buettikoferi）有舌筒线虫病，1只褐头绢毛猴（Saguinus fuscicollis）有颊筒线虫病。对从一只狮尾猕猴解剖出的整条线虫进行检查也证实了巨柄筒线虫的独特形态。筒线虫属的线虫是通过摄入中间宿主蟑螂而获得的。这是巨柄筒线虫在非灵长类物种中的首次报道，表明圈养的非洲松鼠在动物园环境中可作为这种寄生虫的储存宿主。
