Physaloptera rara

Physaloptera rara

<p align="CENTER"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Physaloptera rara</b></i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Hall &amp; Wigdor, 1918</b></span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>ETYMOLOGY:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physalis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> = bubble and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>ptero</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> = wing, along with </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara = rarus </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(thin)</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>SYNONYMS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>felidis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Ackert, 1936</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>HISTORY:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> was originally described by Hall and Wigdor (1918) from the dog. This worm is now considered mainly a parasite of the coyote (</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Canis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>latrans</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">) that has developed a domestic cycle in the cat, dog, and other wildlife species throughout the range of this host. Ackert (1936) found a parasite in the cat that he described as </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>felidis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, but the two descriptions of these parasites are very similar, and it would warrant additional work on the biology and taxonomy of these species to verify that they are actually distinct.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Hitchcock (1953) reported that she found </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> in kittens in Michigan. Baughn and Bliznick (1954) found it in cats in New York. Ackert (1936) recovered his specimens from cats in Kansas. Ackert and Furomoto (1959) also found it in cats in Kansas. Shoop et al. (1991) reported </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> from cats in Arkansas. Marchiondo and Sawyer (1978) recovered specimens from cats in Utah. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>LOCATION IN HOST:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> The adult worms are found in the stomach and very anterior portion of the duodenum of the cat.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>PARASITE IDENTIFICATION:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> differs from </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>praeputialis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> in that there is no sheath over the posterior portion of the body of the males and females. The males are 2.5 to 3 cm long; the females are 3 cm to 6 cm in length. These worms tend to be white in color. The male has caudal alae and pedunculate papillae on its tail. The vulva of the female is anterior to the middle of the body. The eggs are thick shelled, ellipsoid, 42 µm to 53 µm long, 29 µm to 35 µm wide, and contain a larva when passed in the feces. Like the eggs of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>praeputialis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, the eggs of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> are quite clear and difficult to see, especially in sugar flotations. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>LIFE CYCLE:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Petri (1950) showed that the German cockroach, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Blatella</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>germanica</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, and grain beetles, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Tribolium</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>confusum</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, could serve as intermediate hosts of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. Petri and Ameel (1950) added ground beetles, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Harpalus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> sp., and crickets, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Acheta</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>assimilis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, to the list of intermediate hosts. Olsen (1980) added grasshoppers, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Melanoplus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>femurrubrum</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, to the list of intermediate hosts. Widmer (1967) found larvae attached to the mucosa of the stomachs of rattlesnakes in Colorado, and he used these larvae to experimentally infect cats (Widmer, 1970). Olsen (1980) used larvae from rattlesnakes to infect cats and found the prepatent period to be 75 to 79 days. Olsen also showed that mice and frogs could served as paratenic hosts, with the larvae persisting attached to the mucosa of the gastro intestinal tract. Using larva recovered from frog feces 21 days after infection, a cat developed a patent infection 156 days after infection.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND PATHOGENESIS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Reports of clinical signs due to this parasite are rare. Santen et al. (1993) report on signs including vomiting and diarrhea in a seven-month-old cat that was infected with </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> and</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> Toxocara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>cati</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>TREATMENT:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> The only description of treatment in the cat is that of Santen et al. (1991) who treated an infected cat with pyrantel pamoate (5 mg/kg bodyweight pyrantel pamoate). Examination of the feces of the cat six weeks after treatment revealed the continued presence of eggs of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Toxocara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>cati</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. The cat was then treated with 2 oral doses of pyrantel pamoate (5 mg/kg body weight) 3 weeks apart. Repeat fecal examinations revealed no additional eggs in the feces of this cat.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>EPIZOOTIOLOGY:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Cats apparently can become infected with </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> by the ingestion of the arthropod intermediate host or through the ingestion of paratenic hosts. The failure of Olsen (1980) to infect chickens with larvae suggest that birds may not be important as paratenic hosts of this parasite. The fact that German cockroaches could serve as intermediate hosts could mean that this parasite could become a problem in catteries with less than adequate cleanliness.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>HAZARDS TO OTHER ANIMALS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> The larvated eggs passed in the feces are not infectious unless ingested by arthropod intermediate hosts. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>HAZARD TO HUMANS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Humans have been reported infected with </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> spp., but it is unclear which species has been involved in these infections (Nicolaides et al., 1977). Infections are probably required by the accidental ingestion of arthropod hosts or by the ingestion of uncooked paratenic hosts.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>CONTROL/PREVENTION:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Control would involve preventing cats from hunting paratenic hosts or preying on the arthropod intermediate hosts.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>REFERENCES:</b></span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ackert JE. 1936. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>felidis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> n. sp., a nematode of the cat. Trans Am Microsc Soc 55:250-254.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ackert JE, Furumoto. 1949. Helminths of cats in eastern Kansas. Trans Kans Acad Sci 52:449-453.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Baughn CO, Bliznick A. 1954. The incidence of certain helminth parasites of the cat. J Parasitol 40(suppl):19.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hall MC, Wigdor M. 1918. A </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> from the dog, with a note on the nematode parasites of the dog in North America. J Am Vet Med Assoc 53:6:733-744.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hitchcock DJ. 1953. Incidence of gastrointestinal parasites in some Michigan kittens. N Am Vet 34:428-429.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Marchiondo AA, Sawyer TW. 1978. Scanning electron microscopy of the head region of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>felidis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Ackert, 1936. Proc Helm Soc Wash 45:258-260.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nicolaides NJ, Musgrave J, McGuckin D, Moorhouse DE. 1977. Nematode larvae (Spirurida: Physalopteridae) causing infarction of the bowel in an infant. Pathology 9:129-135.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Olsen JL. 1980. Life history of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Hall and Wigdor, 1918 (Nematoda: Physalopteroidea) of canids and felids in definitive, intermediate, and paratenic hosts. Rev Iberica Parasitol 40:489-525.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Petri LH. 1950. Life cycle of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Hall and Wigdor, 1918 (Nematoda: Spiruroidea) with the cockroach, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Blatella</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>germanica</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> serving as intermediate host. Trans Kans Acad Sci 53:331-337.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Petri LH, Ameel DJ. 1950. Studies on the life cycle of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>rara</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Hall and Wigdor, 1918 and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>praeputialis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Linstow, 1889. J Parasitol 36(suppl):40.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Power LA. 1971. Helminths of casts from the Midwest with a report of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Ancylostoma</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>caninum</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> in this host. J Parasitol 57:610.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Santen DR, Chastain CB, Schmidt DA. 1993. Efficacy of pyrantel pamoate against </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> in a cat. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 29:53-55.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Shoop WL, Haines HW, Michael BF, Eary CH, Endris RG. 1991. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Molineus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>barbatus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> (Trichostrongylidae) and other helminthic infections of the cat in Arkansas. J Helm Soc Wash 58:227-230.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Widmer EA. 1967. Helminth parasites of the prairie rattlesnake, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Crotalus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>viridis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Rafinesque, 1818, in Weld Couty, Colorado. J Parasitol 53:362-363.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium;">Widmer EA. 1970. Development of third-stage </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Physaloptera</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> larvae from </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Crotalus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>viridis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Rafinesque, 1818 in cats with notes on pathology of the larvae in the reptile (Nematoda, Spiruroidea). J Wildl Dis 6:89-93.</span></p>