Additional description of a new species of Tunga (Siphonaptera) from Ecuador

A new species of chigoe flea belonging to the genus Tunga jarocki, 1838 (Siphonaptera, Pulicidae, Tunginae), Tungo trimamillata, was recently described by Pampiglione et al. (2002). A better description and more details of the epidemiology of the flea are now presented. It is a species found in goats, pigs and cattle in Santa Isabel in Andean Ecuador. This new species differs from its most similar congener, Tunga penetrans (L., 1758), by several features, the most important of which are a) the presence on the anterior extremity of the gravid female of three rounded humps surrounding the head and thorax (which, however, are not visible if viewed in profile), b) slightly larger dimensions and C) the length of the first segment of the maxillary palpi which is longer than each of the other three

Evidence of alae in Aelurostrongylus abstrusus larvae examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Les auteurs decrivent au microscope electronique a balayage les ailes laterales des larves (L1) d'Aelurostrongylus abstrusus recueillies dans les selles d'un chat, precedemment observees au microscope optique par l'un des auteurs dans des coupes transversales de larves pulmonaires du nematod

Anatomy of Tunga trimamillata Pampiglione et al., 2002 (Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae) and developmental phases of the gravid female

This paper deals with some internal anatomical features observed in histological sections and freshly dissected mounts of Tunga trimamillata, a Siphonaptera recently discovered in Andean regions of Ecuador from several mammals, including man. It was possible to study in males and also non-gravid and gravid females, the location and anatomy of several organs not previously described for this species: the testes, epididymis, ganglia, Malpighian tubules, eyes, rectal ampulla with one of its pads and structures which could be interpreted as midgut diverticula, whose presence has not been recorded in the Siphonaptera. The process of neosomy in the female during pregnancy is illustrated by photographs of the consecutive developmental phases, taken at the stereomicroscope. Furthermore, Some details of the exoskeleton, spermatheca during different phases of pregnancy of the gravid female and the presence of a foreign body (parasite?) within the haemocoel have been displayed in specimens cleared with Hoyer's medium

Scanning electron microscopy of Oestrus ovis larvae (Diptera: Oestridae): skin armour and posterior spiracles.

The skin armour and posterior spiracles of L1, L2 and L3 of Oestrus ovis (Diptera: Oestridae) are described and documented photographically by a scanning electron microscope. The complex and variable morphology of the attack organs of larvae of different stages makes it easier to understand better their exceeding adaptability to the host. The SEM survey has also allowed an apparently unreported anatomic particular with a probable sensory function to be detected in L1

Human dirofilaria repens infection in Hungary: A case in the spermatic cord and a review of the literature

Orchiectomy was performed in a 37-year-old Hungarian man exhibiting a swelling in his right testicle. Histology revealed a nodule attached to the spermatic cord, consisting of a granulomatous tissue around sections of a nematode. The worm was identified asDirofilaria repens, an uncommon parasite in Hungary. As the patient had been abroad only in Italy where cases of dirofilariosis in dogs and humans are relatively frequent, it is assumed that the infection might have been acquired in that country 5 years earlier. This is the fifth case, published so far in the world, of such a localization in a human. The human cases of dirofilariosis reported in Hungary are reviewed

First molecular identification of the zoonotic parasite Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in a paraffin-embedded granuloma taken from a case of human intestinal anisakiasis in Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anisakiasis is an important fish-borne zoonosis provoked by larval stages of nematodes belonging to the genus <it>Anisakis</it>. The detection and identification of human infections is difficult. This is due to: a) the low specificity of the clinical features and symptomatology related to human infections; b) the paucity of diagnostic features of larvae found in granulomatous lesions characteristic of "invasive anisakiasis"; and c) the lack morphological characters diagnostic at the specific level when larvae of <it>Anisakis </it>are detected. Thus, molecular-based diagnostic approaches are warranted.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>We have developed a PCR method that amplifies the DNA of <it>Anisakis </it>spp. in fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. This method was applied to a granuloma removed from a human case of intestinal anisakiasis in Italy. Specific primers of the mtDNA <it>cox2 </it>gene were used and sequence analysis was performed according to the procedures already established for species of <it>Anisakis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The sequence obtained (629 bp) was compared with those of the other species of <it>Anisakis </it>which have so far been genetically characterized and with sequences obtained from larval stages of <it>Anisakis </it>collected from the Mediterranean fish <it>Engraulis encrasicolus</it>. This enabled the genetic identification of the larva in the human tissue as <it>A. pegreffii</it>. This is the first instance of human intestinal anisakiasis diagnosed using PCR of DNA purified from a fixed eosinophilic granuloma embedded in paraffin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The case of human anisakiasis presented reinforces the pathological significance of the species <it>A. pegreffii </it>to humans. The molecular/genetic methodological approach based on mtDNA <it>cox2 </it>sequence analysis, described here, can allow easy and rapid identification of <it>Anisakis </it>spp. in formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded tissues removed from cases of either gastric or intestinal human anisakiasis.</p