Clinostomum abdoni Tubangui and Garcia, 1939
ETYMOLOGY:Clino (bent) + stoma (mouth) and abdoni for Dr. Abdon who originally found the fluke in the mouth of a cat..
SYNONYMS: None.
HISTORY: This parasite was described from a single specimen obtained from a pocket under the tongue of the mouth of a cat in the Philippines.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Surigao, Mindanao, Philippines.
LOCATION IN HOST: Mouth, pocket under the tongue..
PARASITE IDENTIFICATION: This trematode was 6.8 mm long and 1.65 mm wide. There were no markedly noticeable cuticular spines. the acetabulum was much larger than the oral sucker. The testes are tandem. The oral sucker, which is retractable as evidenced by a collar-like fold in the tegument of the fluke at the base of the oral sucker, is about one-third the diameter of the ventral sucker that is located slightly anterior to midbody. The genital opening is in the posterior third of the body and the uterus fills the body between the acetabulum and the genital pore.
The oval eggs are large,100 to 109 µm long by 60 to 64 µm wide, operculate, and not embryonated when they leave the fluke.
LIFE CYCLE: The life cycle of Clinostomumabdoni has not been elucidated, but the authors of the original description felt that it was highly likely that the normal host was most likely a piscivorous bird. For a general presentation see Clinostomumfalsatum.
CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND PATHOGENESIS: The only clinical sign was the presence of the pocket under the tongue that housed the fluke at the time of its collection.
TREATMENT: Physical removal.
EPIZOOTIOLOGY: Cats become infected by eating fish containing the metacercariae. The flukes are capable of developing to the adult stage in a few days.
HAZARD TO OTHER ANIMALS: None.
HAZARD TO HUMANS: None.
CONTROL/PREVENTION: Prevent cats from eating raw fish.
REFERENCES:
Tubangui MA, Garcia EJ. 1939. Clinostomum abdoni sp. nov. a trematode parasite of the cat in the Philippines. Philip J Sci. 70:397-401.