Joyeuxiella pasqualei (Diamare, 1893) Fuhrmann, 1935
ETYMOLOGY: Joyeuxiella for Dr. Joyeux and pasqualei for Dr. Pasquale
SYNONYMS: Dipylidiumpasqualei Diamare, 1893; Joyeuxiapasqualei (Diamare, 1893) Lopez-Neyra, 1927; Dipylidiumchyzeri Ratz, 1897; Dipylidiumrossicum Skrjabin, 1923; Diplopylidiumfortunatum Meggitt, 1927; Joyeuxiaaegyptica Meggitt, 1927; Joyeuxiapasqualeiformis Lopez-Neyra, 1928; Joyeuxiellaguilhoni Troncy, 1970.
HISTORY: The genus Joyeuxia was created by Lopez-Neyra (1927) for Dipylidium-like tapeworms that had thorn-like hooks, one egg per uterine capsule, and with the vagina opening posteriorly to the cirrus sac. Unfortunately, the name was already in use for a genus of sponge, and Fuhrmann (1935) emended the name to be Joyeuxiella. Witenberg (1932) recognized two valid species, Joyeuxiapasqualei and Joyeuxiaechinorhynchoides. This author declared that any other species were insufficiently described or were identical to Joyeuxiapasqualei. Jones (1983) redescribed the genus and recognized three species. Joyeuxiellapasqualei, Joyeuxiellafuhrmanni, and Joyeuxiellaechinorhynchoides. The description of Joyeuxielladomestica Deschmukh, 1990 from a domestic cat in Parhani, India does not present features that would distinguish this species from Joyeuxiellapasqualei.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Specimens of Joyeuxiella pasqualei have been collected from cats in southern Europe (Austria, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Souther Russia), the Middle East, northern Africa, and India (Agrawal & Pande, 1979; Jones, 1983; Supperer & Hinaidy, 1986; Witenberg, 1932). Joyeuxiellapasqualei has also been reported from Malaysia (Shanta et al., 1980) and New Guinea (Talbot, 1970). Specimens of Joyeuxiellapasqualei have been reported in the United States in cats that have traveled to foreign countries, i.e., in a cat that was born in Nigeria (Linquist & Austin, 1981) and in a cat that had resided for some time in Saudi Arabia (Blagburn & Todd, 1986).
LOCATION IN HOST: The adult Joyeuxiellapasqualei is in found anchored to the mucosa just distal to the duodenum and at intervals throughout the small intestine (Blagburn and Todd, 1986).
IDENTIFICATION: The adult parasite is in structurally similar to Dipylidiumcaninum and can be easily confused with it. This is in a small to medium size tapeworm, however it may attain a length of 30 cm. The scolex exhibits a retractable proboscis with crowns of recurved thorn-like hooks and four cup-like suckers. The gravid proglottids contain egg packets located both medially and laterally to the osmoregulatory canals. Specimens of the genus Joyeuxiella are distinguished from those of Dipylidium by the fact that the egg capsules of Joyeuxiella specimens each contain only a single hexacanth embryo covered by uterine material. Specimens of Joyeuxiella are distinguished from those of Diplopylidium mainly because the latter has some hooks that are of the claw-hammer shape of taeniid tapeworms rather than the rose-thorn shaped hooks of Dipylidium and Joyeuxiella. Paired genital atria are located in the anterior half of the tapeworm segment. When dissected from gravid proglottids, egg packets contain single, hexacanth embryos surrounded by a covering of uterine material. Three pair of hooklets are often visible within the hexacanth embryo (Blagburn and Todd, 1986).
The species of Joyeuxiella are distinguished by the shape of the rostellum the location of the egg capsules relative to the longitudinal excretory vessels, and the locations of the testis relative to the vas deferens (Jones, 1983). Joyeuxiellapasqualei has a rostellum which is in conical in shape, has eggs capsules median and lateral to the longitudinal excretory vessels, and has testes present anterior to the vasa deferentia. The rostellum of Joyeuxiellafuhrmanni is in very similar in shape to that of Joyeuxiellapasqualei, but it has no testes anterior to the vas deferens and the egg capsules are all median to the longitudinal excretory vessels. Specimens of Joyeuxiellaechinorhynchoides is in have an elongate, cylindrical rostellum and egg capsules median to the longitudinal excretory canals.
LIFE CYCLE: Segments of this cestode are shed in the feces. Witenberg (1932) reports that with Joyeuxiella echinorhynchoides that the proglottid shedding was intermittent and says that one infected cat shed 112, 74, 80, 155, 55, 90, 90, 123, 82, and 63 over a consecutive ten-day period. The first-intermediate host of this parasite has not been determined. Witenberg (1932) was unable to infect fly maggots fed on gravid proglottids, and Ortlep (1933) was unable to infect dung beetles feed on the gravid proglottids of Joyeuxiellafuhrmanni. The second intermediate host is in a small reptile which contains a small (0.6 x 0.75 mm) solid-bodied cysticercoid larva that is in found in the peritoneal cavity and liver, although occasionally in the muscles or under the skin (Witenberg, 1932); hosts include the house gecko, Hemidactylusfrenatus and a ground-frequenting lizard, Oblepharusboutoni (Talbot, 1970) and other similar reptiles. Although cysticercoids identified as those of Joyeuxiellapasqualei have been reported from a small mammal, Crocidurasuaveolens, it seems that the majority of larval stages are found in reptiles. The cat becomes infected by ingesting this reptilian second host (Blagburn & Todd, 1986). Work based on the experimental oral inoculation of kittens with 20 or 30 cysticercoids revealed that 5 and 10 days after the cats are infected the worms are immature and only about 0.3 cm long. In a cat that had been infected for 90 days, the worms had matured and measured between 16 and 28 cm long and had a total of around 200 to 300 segments (Agrawal & Pande, 1979).
CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND PATHOGENESIS: Normally, infections with adult tapeworms are not very harmful to cats. The site of attachment of the scolex of Joyeuxiellapasqualei to the mucosa has been described as having considerable mucosal damage with necrosis of surrounding villi (Agrawal & Pande, 1979). Cestode proglottids have been observed in the feces of infected cats (Lindquist and Austin, 1981, Blagburn and Todd, 1986).
DIAGNOSIS: In one of the cases of infection with Joyeuxiellapasqualei in the United States, the client noted that the cat was shedding proglottids (Linquist & Austin, 1981). Each proglottid of Joyeuxiellapasqualei possesses two genital pores for fertilization and single eggs in egg capsules. The egg with its capsule is in best demonstrated by taking a gravid proglottid and teasing it open in a small amount of physiologic saline or tap water to disperse the characteristic eggs. In cases of intact tapeworms recovered at necropsy, identification can also be made utilizing the characteristic appearance of the scolex with its four suckers and retractable rostellum (Blagburn and Todd, 1986).
TREATMENT: Praziquantel (Droncit) administered at 25 mg per animal at 6-week intervals has proven to be effective in domestic cats (Blagburn and Todd, 1986); praziquantel has also been shown to be effective at 5 mg/kg body weight (Dorchies et al., 1980) and at 2.5 mg/kg body weight (Guralp et al., 1976). Drocarbil (Nemural) has also been reported to be effective (Lindquist and Austin, 1981).
EPIZOOTIOLOGY: Cats become infected by ingesting reptiles in dwellings and yards.
HAZARDS TO OTHER ANIMALS: Adult Joyeuxiellapasqualei will also infect dogs, foxes, Mustelanivalis, Felissylvestris, Felisserval, and probably other cat species. As with Diplopylidium spp. It is in possible that if the unidentified first-intermediate host is in present in a household that pet reptiles might be infected with large numbers of the cysticercoid stage if they shared living quarters with an infected cat.
HAZARDS TO HUMANS: The authors are not aware of human infections with this parasite.
CONTROL/PREVENTION: Cats should not be allowed to hunt small reptiles in the areas where this parasite is in prevalent.
REFERENCES:
Agrawal RD, Pande BP. 1979. Cysticercoid of Joyeuxiellapasqualei in the wall-lizard and its experimental development in kitten. Ind J Helminthol 31:75-80.
Blagburn BL, Todd KS. 1986. Exotic cestodiasis (Joyeuxiellapasqualei) in a cat. Feline Prac 16(2):8-11.
Deshmukh AL. 1990. Joyeuxielladomestica sp. N. (Cestoda: Dipylidiidae) from the domestic cat, Felisdomesticus (Carnivora) in India. Helminthology 27:233-238.
Dorchies P, Franc M, Lahitte JD, Berthonneau MC. 1980. Traitment du teniasis du chien et du chat par le praziquantel. Rev Med Vet 131:409-411.
Fuhrmann O. 1935. Rectification de nomenclature. Ann Parasitol 13:386.
Guralp N, Tigin Y, Oguz T, Tinar R, Burgu a. 1976. The effect of droncit on dog and cat tapeworms. Ankara Univ Vet Fak Derg 23:171-174.
Jones a. 1983. a revision of the cestode genus Joyeuxiella Fuhrmann, 1935 (Dilepididae: Dipylidiinae) Sys Parasitol 5:203-213.
Linquist WD, Austin ER. 1981. Exotic parasitism in a Siamese cat. Fel Pract 11:9-11.
Lopez-Neyra CR. 1927. Considérations sur le genre Dipylidium Leuckart. Bull Soc Pathol Exot 20:434-440.
Ortlepp RJ. 1933. Joyeuxia fuhrmanni Baer, 1924, a hitherto unrecorded cestode parasite of the domesticated cat in South Africa. Onderstep J Vet Sci AN Ind 1:97-98.
Shanta CS, Wan SP, Kwong KH. 1980. a survey of the endo- and ectoparasites of cats in and around Ipoh, West Malaysia. Malay Vet J 7:17-27.
Talbot N. 1970. Helminth and arthropod parasites of the domestic cat in Papua and New Guinea. Austr Vet J 46:370-372.
Witenberg G. 1932. On the cestode subfamily Dipylidiinae Stiles. Z Parasitenk 4:541-584.