Tk. Graczyk et Cj. Shiff, EXPERIMENTAL-INFECTION OF DOMESTIC DUCKS AND RODENTS BY NOTOCOTYLUS-ATTENUATUS (TREMATODA, NOTOCOTYLIDAE), Journal of wildlife diseases, 29(3), 1993, pp. 434-439
In order to study transmission patterns of Notocotylus attenuatus five
3-wk-old domestic ducks, five 8-wk-old rats and ten 4-wk-old mice wer
e infected with the parasite. All ducks became infected and all flukes
were recovered from the intestinal ceca. Worms moved down the length
of the cecum during development and as the parasites grew they changed
their method of attachment. Flukes became gravid by day 16 post-infec
tion, after which growth ceased. Egg filaments appear to play a role i
n the formation and movement of worm egg clusters from the distal port
ion of the cecum to the lumen of small intestine. Rodents also became
infected with the parasite producing granulomatous nodular lesions in
the lower small intestine but all flukes in the granulomata were dead.
It is unlikely that transmission of this trematode can depend on mice
and rats.