Adult Nematodirus helvetianus (Trichostrongylina : Molineoidea) in the diaphragme of coyotes (Canis latrans) in the lower St. Lawrence and Gaspe Peninsula (Quebec)

Adult specimens of Nematodirus helvetianus, a parasitic nematode in the sto mach of domestic ruminants, were found in the diaphragm of 13 of 38 coyotes (Canis latrans) collected in winter yards used by White-tailed Deer (Odoco ileus virginianus), in the Lower St. Lawrence and Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec , Canada. The ingestion of domestic sheep harbouring third- or fourth-stage larvae is likely how coyotes acquired infections rather than by accidental ingestion of free-living infective larvae on vegetation which is how this parasite is normally acquired by sheep. However, experimental work to verif y this hypothesis is required.