Wiadomosci parazytologiczne最新文献

Baylisascaris procyonis is a large nematode of the order Ascaridida, specific for raccoon (Procyon lotor). In North America, raccoons are extremely common in rural, suburban, and urban settings, where they have become well adapted to living alongside people. In the 1930s raccoons were introduced into Europe (i. a. Poland) and Asia for the commercial fur trade and into Japan as pets. The prevalence of B. procyonis infection in raccoons is often high, and infected animals can disseminate in their feces enormous numbers of parasite eggs. Raccoons defecate in preferred communal sites, termed latrines which play a vital role in the transmission dynamics of B. procyonis. Intestinal infections of non-raccoon species have been documented in dogs, rabbits in Japan and experimentally in opossums. Over 100 species mammals and birds can be paratenic host for B. procyonis. This parasite has emerged in recent years as one of the most serious causes of zoonotic visceral, ocular, and neural larva migrans and, in particular, of devastating encephalitis in young children. Several probable or confirmed cases of severe or fatal human B. procyonis infection have been documented. Diagnosis of Baylisascaris encephalitis is based on clinical central nervous system disease, peripheral and cerebrospinal fluid eosinophilia, deep white matter lesions visible by magnetic resonance imaging, and positive results of serologic tests. Treatment efficacy in clinical cases is poor, but albendazole prevents disease if given promptly after infection. While human baylisascariasis appears to be rare, the devastating neurologic disease that is caused by this infection and the lack of effective treatment make it a disease of public health importance. Certain characteristics of B. procyonis make it a feasible bioterrorist agent, because eggs can survive in the environment for extended periods of time, and the infectious dose of B. procyonis is relatively low. Moreover, the organism causes a severe, frequently fatal infection in humans, and no effective therapy or vaccine exists.

The article is a concise review concerning immune response during Toxoplasma gondii infection. The role of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses is discussed including active macrophages, CD4+/CD8+, T-lymphocytes, cytokines and antibodies. Perspectives of the immunization were also briefly presented.

In the of period 2003-2007, a total of 382 specimens of reptiles belonging to the following genera were investigated: Testudo, Iguana, Varanus, Gongylophis, Python, Spalerosophis, Psammophis. The material for the present study was a collection of reptiles owned by the "Animals" Ltd from Swietochłowice (Upper Silesia, Poland), specialising in import of exotic animals to Poland, as well as the reptile collections of private breeders. The reptiles that turned out to be the most heavily infected with ticks were the commonly bred terrarium reptiles: Varanus exanthematicus and Python regius and they were imported to Poland from Ghana, Africa. Exotic reptiles are also imported from Southern Europe, Asia and Central America. The presently reported study helped to confirm the fact of transfer of exotic ticks on reptiles to Poland. A total of 2104 tick specimens, representing all stages of development (males, females, nymphs, larvae), were collected. They represented species of the genera Amblyomma and Hyalomma. The following species were found: Amblyomma exornatum Koch, 1844, Amblyomma flavomaculatum (Lucas, 1846), Amblyomma latum Koch, 1844, Amblyomma nuttalli Dönitz, 1909, Amblyomma quadricavum Schulze, 1941, Amblyomma transversale (Lucas, 1844), Amblyomma varanense (Supino, 1897), Amblyomma spp. Koch, 1844, Hyalomma aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1758). All the species of ticks of genus Ambylomma revealed have been discovered in Poland for the first time. The overall prevalence of infection was 77.6%. The highest prevalence value (81.2%) was observed on pythons (Python regius) and (78.7%) on monitor lizards (Varanus exanthematicus). The highest number of ticks was collected from Python regius and Varanus exanthematicus. The mean infection intensity for V. exanthematicus was 7.6 ticks per host, while for P. regius the intensity reached 4.7 ticks. The most abundant tick transferred to Poland on a host was an African tick, Amblyomma latum. Fifty eight specimens of monitor lizards (V. salvator and V. exanthematicus) and 92 specimens pythons (P. regius) were examined, with detailed descriptions of where the parasite was feeding on the body of the host. Among the 434 specimens of ticks collected from the monitor lizards, the majority were attached on the host's legs (40.5%), on the trunk (29.3%), on the head (20.3%), with fewest on the tail (9.9%). Also, 430 specimens of ticks were collected from the bodies of pythons. They mostly parasitized along the whole length of the back (54.4%) and on the stomach side of the trunk (29.8%), less frequently in the area of the cloaca (5.6%), around the eyes (3.7%), in the nostril openings (0.9%) and on the remainder of the head (5.6%). On the hosts, ticks were found at different development stages, but adult development stages dominated. The most frequent were males (999 specimens), then adult females (552 specimens), nymphs (508 specimens) and larvae (45 specimens). During the research, 13 cases of anomalies of morphologica

The aim of this work was to present alariosis--a newly diagnosed parasitic disease caused by a trematode Alaria alata. A. alata requires two intermediate hosts: a snail and a frog. Carnivorous mammals are definitive hosts. Humans and a number vertebrates can be paratenic hosts. The pathological consequences of the presence of A. alata in the connective- and muscle tissues, relevant symptoms, and its diagnostic methods have been described. Importance of multiorgans changes inflicted by the parasite have been emphasized. Alariosis may also exist as an ophthalmic disease. As yet no pathognomonic symptoms of this disease have been described. Alariosis is an emerging parasitic disease, difficult in diagnosis and requiring exclusion of other diseases. No serological test for diagnosis of alariosis are available.

Giardia is the most common intestinal protozoan parasite found in humans and animals worldwide. Although it has been known for three hundred years, the nomenclature, taxonomy, host specificity, and pathogenicity of Giardia still arouse numerous controversies and ambiguities. Giardia is classified into six species, that are characterised by various ranges of hosts. The most dubious species is G. intestinalis, which includes a dozen or so genotypes, and only two of them (genotype A and B) have wide ranges of hosts, including humans. Moreover, in some genotype assemblages of G. intestinalis certain subgenotypes were distinguished and it was proven that in the same host species various subgenotypes of this parasite may occur. Bearing in mind the significant genetic heterogeneity of G. intestinalis and the fact that various genotypes and subgenotypes of this parasite are characterised by the broad or narrow host specificity, the data concerning the frequency of giardiosis occurrence are insufficient. It is necessary to use molecular biology techniques in order to define the genotype and/or the subgenotype of G. intestinalis that are found in humans and in certain animal species. Furthermore, since more and more pieces of evidence connected with a possibility of the sexual recombination of Giardia are gathered, it is unknown if genotypes and subgenotypes of this parasite are stable in time. The aim of this thesis was to define the frequency of Giardia occurrence in humans and animals in Wielkopolska region, to identify species and genotypes of Giardia that occur in humans and animals, as well as to obtain an axenic culture of the chosen isolates of Giardia from animals and to compare the sequence of the beta-giardin gene fragment obtained from the DNA isolated from cysts and trophozoites in order to check if the axenisation of G. intestinalis leads to the selection of genotypes or if Giardia genotypes are stable in time. Altogether, 2183 faecal samples were examined for the presence of Giardia cysts; 447 faecal samples were taken from 232 persons coming from 5 cities situated in Wielkopolska, and 1736 faecal samples were obtained from 123 animal species, including: 266 faecal samples from 113 species of animals kept in the Zoological Garden in Poznań, 1286 samples from 4 species of breeding animals, 118 samples from dogs, and 66 samples from 5 species of wild animals. Faecal samples were taken from animals coming from 25 places in Wielkopolska. Moreover, seven isolates of G. intestinalis were used in the studies, which were obtained from various species of hosts and kept in an axenic in vitro culture. Microscopic, molecular and bio-informative methods were used in the studies. From each faecal sample fresh smears were made in a 0.6% solution of physiological salt and in Lugol's solution, as well as a permanent smear stained with trichrome was made. Moreover, the following molecular techniques were implemented in the studies: DNA extraction and pu

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the tissues of host and the parasite and the impact of carbofuran, a carbamate pesticide on the AChE activity in A. simplex larvae was investigated. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used for modeling enzymatic activity in herring and A. simplex nematodes.

The aim of the study was the way of penetration of the first stage larvae of Elaphostrongylus cervi to the intermediate host and their development to the invasive stage. The first stage larvae of E. cervi penetrate to the body of a snail by the epithelium of its foot, and localise in tissue of muscles. The period of their development to the second stage is 7 to 9 days, and to the third stage is 21 to 28 days.

Various modification of the mixture of gum arabic with chloral hydrate can be used for mounting of small arthropods as well as some helminths. However, in diagnostic laboratories in Poland they seem to remain unknown. The authors of current work present examples of the Hoyer's medium application. The medium has been composed according to the initial, given by Hoyer, hundred-years-old recipe, which was the root of all other, later used recipes. Hoyer's medium is universal in action and very comfortable to use in slides for microscope investigation. It gives the immediate light-through effect, so it can be helpful in fast diagnostics. At the same time it allows to store the slides for a relatively long time e.g. with education purpose.

There is extensive and convincing evidence from experimental studies that interactions exist between helminths of different species during concurrent infections in laboratory rodents. Among the strongest interactions are those that arise from immune responses of the hosts. However, detecting comparable relationships in data acquired from wild rodent populations has not been easy. In general, helminth infections in naturally occurring rodent populations show highly predictable trends; seasonal, host age-dependent and spatial variation in the abundance of core species and in helminth species richness are regularly reported aspects of these host-parasite communities. Controlling for these strong effects is therefore extremely important, if interactions between species are to be detected. One such interaction, the positive relationship between Heligmosomoides polygyrus and species richness of other helminths in European wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, has been found in four totally independent data-sets, three drawn from the U.K. and one from Portugal. These analyses provide strong evidence that at the level of species richness a highly predictable element of co-infections in wood mice has now been defined.

Protozoa from the genus Eimeria belong to the least recognized parasites of the European bison. There are only a few data concerning the infection of the bison by these protozoa in Białowieza Forest. In the winter of 2007/2008 weighting 3 g fecal samples from the rectum of 16 shot bison were examined by flotation method. In 13 of them were found coccidian oocysts from genus Eimeria, which were determined to the species by morphometric study under the microscope. In all 13 positive samples, it is 81.2%, oocysts of Eimeria bovis were found. Intensiveness of this infection oscillated from 1 to 181 and the mean one was 38 oocysts. E. zuernii was found in 9 samples in the mean intensity 19 (1-154) oocysts. E. ellipsoidalis occurred in 3 bison with a very low intensity 1 to 3 oocysts. The most rarely occurred E. canadiensis, only in 2 examined bison in the number of 2 and 3 oocysts. All found coccidian species are the typical parasites of cattle. Białowieza Forest is a new place of occurrence of these parasites. European bison is a new host for E. zuernii.