Artyfechinostomum sufrartyfex Lane, 1915
(Figure 2-13)
ETYMOLOGY: According to Lane (1915) the worm was named for Dr. E Smythe of Suffry in Assam, India: "By the kind courtesy of Dr. E. Smythe of Suffry in Assam, India, of whose kindness the name given to the parasite is intended as a slight acknowledment I have received, on two occasions, consignments of flukes...” In 1917, Lane wrote that "In mentioning Artyfechinosomum sufrartyfex Leiper refers to the name as 'New and distinctive’; while Odhner is impelled to call it 'terrible.’ It would apear therefore to be wise for the future to avoid the attempt to obtain both the alliteration so useful in indicating a type species and the complimentary inclusion of the name of a donor, unless the result can be reached by a less cacophonour sombination of syllable than was the case in this effort.”
SYNONYMS: whether or not this worm is the same as Echinostomamalayanum Leiper, 1911 is not certain. According to Lie Kian Joe (1963a) the two worms are the same, and he presents a long list of potential generic and specific synonomies.
HISTORY: The first member of this genus was recovered from a girl in Assam, India, and named Artyfechinostomum sufrartyfex Lane, 1915. Other specimens described as Echinostomamalayum have been recovered from humans in Malaysia, Thailand, North Sumatra, and the Sino-Tibetan border.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: India; this parasite was reported from one cat out of 110 cats that were surveyed (Rajavelu and Raja, 1989.). If the parasite is the same as Echinostomamalayanum, the range extends into southeast Asia.
LOCATION IN HOST: Small intestine.
PARASITE IDENTIFICATION: The flukes are 8 to 11 mm in length. The genus is characterized by the body being enlarged posteriorly. The ventral sucker is large. The testes are in the posterior part of the body, tandem, and deeply lobed. The eggs are about 120 to 130 m long and about 80 to 90 min maximum diameter.
LIFE CYCLE: Unknown. However, based on the life cycle of Echinostomamalayanum, it would appear that the typical host is the pig. Artyfechinostomasurfratyfex has been recovered from pigs in India (Bhalerao, 1931). It seems that this host utilizes two different snails as the intermediate hosts, and that pigs become infected by ingesting the second snail host that contains metacercariae. When there are no pigs present, the cycle can be maintained in the wild rat population. Metacercariae can also be found in tadpoles and frogs, and it has been postulated that this is how dogs become infected (Lie Kian Joe, 1963b). It would seem that this is how cats also might obtain an infection with this parasite.
CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND PATHOGENESIS: In man, infection has been associated with vomiting (Lane, 1915), but in a light infection in a 5-year old child, there were no special signs of infection (Lie Kian Joe and Virik (1963). Thought to be asymptomatic in cats.
TREATMENT: Probably praziquantel, but not reported.
EPIZOOTIOLOGY: Normal host not known.
HAZARD TO OTHER ANIMALS: None. Although other hosts are infected, the major means of infection is through the ingestion of the fish intermediate host which requires that the appropriate snail also be available. Thus, infection of these other hosts will typically only occur in the wild.
HAZARD TO HUMANS: This trematode has been reported on one occasion from an 8 year old girl. She vomited one worm and passed 62 after treatment.
CONTROL/PREVENTION: Cats are probably being infected by eating infected frogs, tadpoles, or snails. This is an infection that would be very difficult to control in cats that enjoy hunting.
REFERENCES:
Bhalerao GC. 1931. Trematode parasites of pigs in Bengal. Rec Ind Mus 31:475-482.
Lane C. 1915. Artyfechinostomumsufrartyfex. A new parasite echinostome of man. Ind J Med Res 2:977-983.
Lane C. 1917. Are Echinostomummalayum and Artyfechinostomumsufrartyfex identical? Ind J Med Res 4:440-441.
Lie Kian Joe. 1963a. Studies on Echinostomatida in Malaya. III. The adult Echinostomamalayanum Leiper, 1911 (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae) and the probable synonymy of Artyfechinostomasufrartyfex Lane, 1915. Z Parasitenk 23:124-135.
Lie Kian Joe. 1963b. Studies on Echinostomatida in Malaya. IV. The animals hosts of Echinostomamalayanum Leiper, 1911 (Trematoda). Z parasitenk 23:136-140.
Rajavelu G, Raja EE. 1989. A note on Artyfechinostomummalayanum in cats with special reference to taxonomic position. Cheiron 18:46-48.
Figure 2-13.Artyfechinostomasurfrartyfex collected from a pig.