Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T16:24:36.201Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Variations in the fecundity of strongylid worms of the horse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. P. Ogbourne
C. P. Ogbourne
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Bristol
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A large proportion of Strongylus vulgaris, S. edentatus and Trichonema nassatum collected from the gut lumen of slaughtered horses during the winter did not contain eggs. The proportion of Trichonema catinatum without eggs declined to a low level during the winter and rose to relatively high levels during the summer, It has been concluded that worms without eggs are newly matured individuals and that seasonal variations in fecundity reflect similar fluctuations in the age distribution of the adult populations. These fluctuations are related to seasonal differences in the numbers of infective larvae ingested and to the length of parasitic development.Most Strongylus vulgaris, S. edentatus and Trichonema nassatum reach the adult stage during the winter and it has been suggested that an increase in worm numbers during this period is responsible for a rise in the faecal egg counts of horses in the spring. The observations on T. catinatum indicate that the level is maintained by the arrival of new individuals during the summer.

I wish to thank Dr H. D. Crofton for his constant advice and encouragement during this work and Professor H. E. Hinton, F.R.S., for the provision of laboratory facilities. I am indebted to Mr L. J. Potter for allowing me to collect the parasites from his slaughterhouse at Bishop Sutton, near Bristol. This work was carried out during a research studentship funded by the Horse Race Betting Levy Board.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , October 1971 , pp. 289 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, N., Armour, J., Jarrett, W. F. H., Jennings, F. W., Ritchie, J. S. D. & Urquhart, G. M. (1965). A field study of parasitic gastritis in cattle. Veterinary Record 77, 1196–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connan, R. M. (1968). Studies on the worm populations in the alimentary tract of breeding ewes. Journal of Helminthology 42, 9–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crofton, H. D. (1954). Nematode parasite populations in sheep on lowland farms. I. Worm egg counts in ewes. Parasitology 44, 465–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crofton, H. D. (1958). Nematode parasite populations in sheep on lowland farms. V. Further observations on the post-parturient rise and a discussion of its significance. Parasitology 48, 243–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crofton, H. D. & Whitlock, J. H. (1969). Changes in sex ratio in Haemonchus contortus cayugensis. Cornell Veterinarian 59, 388–92.Google ScholarPubMed
Dobrowolska, D. & Grabda, E. (1951). Cykl roczny wydalania jaj nicieni u koni. Medycyna Weterynarjna 7, 235–6.Google Scholar
Ershov, V. S. (1939). Alfortiosis (Strongylus edentatus) infestation in horses. Trudy Kirovskogo Zootekhnichesko-veterinarnogo Institita 4, 49–68. (In Russian).Google Scholar
Ershov, V. S. (1949). Tsikl razvitiya Delafondia vulgaris (Looss 1900) v organizme loshadi. Veterinariya 8, 26–8.Google Scholar
Gibson, T. E. (1953). The effect of repeated anthelmintic treatment with phenothiazine on the faecal egg counts of housed horses, with some observations on the life-cycle of Trichonema spp. in the horse. Journal of Helminthology 27, 29–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, P. S. & Johnstone, I. L. (1967). Ovine ostertagiasis. Australian Veterinary Journal 43, 379–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, W. B., Thomas, B. A. C. & Urquhart, G. M. (1957). Chronic diarrhoea in housed cattle due to atypical parasitic gastritis. Veterinary Record 69, 736–9.Google Scholar
Michel, J. F. (1969). The epidemiology and control of some nematode infections of grazing animals. Advances in Parasitology 7, 211–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poynter, D. (1954). Seasonal fluctuations in the number of strongyle eggs passed by horses. Veterinary Record 66, 74–8.Google Scholar
Round, M. C. (1969). The prepatent period of some horse nematodes determined by experimental infection. Journal of Helminthology 43, 185–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, A. F. (1948). Development of helminthiasis in thoroughbred foals. Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics 58, 107–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salisbury, G. W., Baker, D. W. & Britton, J. W. (1940). Control of equine strongylosis. II. The effect of anthelmintic treatment of mares on the development of strongylosis in foals. Cornell Veterinarian 30, 367–75.Google Scholar
Tiunov, V. I. (1951). Nodular trichonematinosis of the large intestine of horses. Dissertation abstracts. Trudy Gel'mintologicheskoi Laboratorii Akademiya Nauk SSR 5, 318–22. (In Russian).Google Scholar
Todd, A. C., Kelley, G. W., Wyant, Z. N., Hansen, M. F. & Hull, F. E. (1949). Worm parasites in thoroughbred mares. A survey of occurrence, development, and control. Bulletin of the Kentucky Agricultural Experimental Station, no. 536, pp. 1–16.Google Scholar
Todd, A. C, Hansen, M. F., Kelley, G. W., Wyant, Z. N. & Hull, F. E. (1950). The development of helminthiasis in thoroughbred foals in Central Kentucky. Veterinary Medicine 45, 181–6.Google ScholarPubMed
Velichkin, P. A. (1955). The time taken for the development of Delafondia, Alfortia, and Strongylus in foals with experimental infection. Veterinariya 32, 45. (In Russian).Google Scholar
Wetzel, R. (1942). Über die Entwicklungsdauer der Palisaden würmer in Körper des Pferdes und ihre praktische Auswertung. Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 50, 443–4.Google Scholar
Wetzel, R. (1952). Die Entwicklungsdauer (Prepatent periode) von Strongylus edentatus im Pferd. Deutsche Tierärzltiche Wochenschrift 59, 129–30.Google Scholar
Wetzel, R. (1964). The host–parasite relationship of Strongylus edentatus. The histotrophic phase of the life-cycle. Proceedings of the First International Congress of Parasitology 2, 824–5.Google Scholar