Life cycle and morphology of development stages of Physocephalus dromedarii (Nematoda: Spirocercidae)

• Published in: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
• Main Authors: Rolf Karl Schuster, Saritha Sivakumar, Jörg Kinne
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016
• Subjects: Physocephalus dromedarii; Nematoda; Life cycle; Dromedary; Abomasum; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2016.08.001; https://doaj.org/article/1e2fb6a497c0432d98a27fafe006a2e2

Objective: To study the development of Physocephalus dromedarii (P. dromedarii) in the final host. Methods: For this, 5 adult dromedaries were orally infected with third larval stages of P. dromedarii obtained from naturally infected scarab beetles (Scarabaeus cristatus). The camels were necropsied 14, 42, 70, 84 and 280 days after infection and their abomasi were examined for the presence of nematodes. Results: Early 4th stage larva occurred already 2 weeks after infection. They were still in the sheet of the 3rd stage larva. Six weeks after infection, the nematodes became juvenile male and female adults measuring 9 and 10 mm, respectively. Their size doubled at 10 weeks post infection and patency was reached at 12 weeks. P. dromedarii was still present in the camel that was examined 40 weeks after infection. Conclusions: As a result of experimental infection of the natural host, the determined prepatent period of P. dromedarii equalled 12 weeks.