Endemicity of Paragonimus siamensis Miyazaki and Wykoff 1965, the second species of lung fluke found in the Republic of the Philippines
Cabrera, B.D.; Vajrasthira, S.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 4(4): 509-518
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 4787653 Document Number: 66333
Paragonimus siamensis is reported for the first time from Jaro, Leyte, in the Philippines. 9 specimens were recovered from 4 of 8 cats positive for Paragonimus eggs in the faeces (out of 27 cats examined), in which they apparently formed mixed infections with P. westermani (114 specimens of which were recovered from the 8 cats). One of 29 dogs was also positive for eggs in faeces; 2 pigs were negative. 3 mature and 6 immature P. westermani were recovered from 5 of 45 field rats. Cats, white mice and albino and roof rats were successfully infected with thick and thin-walled metacercariae; 3 of 428 flukes recovered from 25 experimentally infected cats were P. siamensis, and the rest P. westermani. The recovery of mature P. westermani from naturally and experimentally infected rats was unexpected, and implies that rats, besides dogs and cats, may be a reservoir of infection. The paper is illustrated with photomicrographs.