agar and Trichostrongyloidiasis

The agar-gel migration technique has previously been described, however, aspects regarding the effect of timing on worm migration needed further scrutiny. In the first experiment, pigs inoculated with Oesophagostomum dentatum were slaughtered simultaneously and their intestines stored at 21-23 degrees C until processed pairwise 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 18 h after slaughter. More than 95% of the worms migrated out of the agar if processed within 6 h. In the second experiment, intestines were treated immediately after slaughter and the migratory speed of adult worms or 4th-stage larvae of O. dentatum or O. quadrispinulatum, or adult Hyostrongylus rubidus were studied. For both Oesophagostomum species, more than 90% of the worms were recovered within 1 h. H. rubidus was significantly slower; however, approximately 98% of the worms had migrated out of the agar-gel by 20 h. This information is essential in planning experiments where recovery of live worms is of value.

Topics: Agar; Animals; Female; Gels; Intestines; Larva; Male; Oesophagostomiasis; Oesophagostomum; Parasitology; Sex Characteristics; Swine; Swine Diseases; Time Factors; Trichostrongyloidea; Trichostrongyloidiasis

A study was carried out in order to compare two techniques for culture of strongyle larvae: the usual fecal culture and a new one where eggs were extracted from feces and larvae were grown in a more defined medium (agar plate fortified with Earle's medium and yeast extract). The efficiency of "on-agar" cultures was better than that of the fecal cultures with a difference of 26% for Trichostrongylus colubriformis and 32% for Ostertagia circumcincta. The variability observed between the number of larvae collected from each culture was low (8% on average) in comparison with that of fecal cultures (15% on average) thus demonstrating a better reproducibility. On the other hand growth of the larvae was similar to that obtained in fecal medium. This new technique avoids the difficulty of controlling the conditions found in fecal cultures (particularly moisture) and could become a more accurate method for diagnosis than the conventional methods. A morphometric study of infective larvae derived from the two methods of culture was carried out. Despite the more defined conditions of development in the "on-agar" cultures, it was not possible to obtain sufficiently homogeneous populations with regard to their measurements so as to distinguish larvae merely with the help of these criteria.

Topics: Agar; Animals; Feces; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Ostertagiasis; Sheep; Sheep Diseases; Trichostrongyloidea; Trichostrongyloidiasis; Trichostrongylosis

Topics: Agar; Animals; Escherichia coli; Female; Ovum; Sheep; Sheep Diseases; Temperature; Time Factors; Trichostrongyloidea; Trichostrongyloidiasis