A STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OESOPHAGOSTOMUM-DENTATUM IN PIGS FOLLOWING PERCUTANEOUS EXPOSURE TO 3RD-STAGE LARVAE

We examined the possibility of establishment of patent infections afte r percutaneous exposure of parasite-naive pigs to 10,000 Oesophagostom um dentatum infective larvae (L-3) At 5 weeks after percutaneous expos ure the pigs were slaughtered and low numbers of adult O. dentatum wer e recovered from the large intestine. In addition, exsheathed L-3 were intravenously injected into pigs, which resulted in the recovery of f ourth-stage larvae (L-4) from nodules in the lungs as well as of L-4 a nd adult worms from the large intestine. This study demonstrates the a bility of porcine nodular worms to establish in the large intestine wh en pigs have been exposed percutaneously to infective larvae. It is po ssible that the larvae reach the large intestine by invading blood vei ns or the lymphatic system at the site of penetration.