Survey of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rats and giant African land snails in Phitsanulok province, Thailand

摘要

Objective:To survey theAngiostrongylus cantonensis (A. cantonensis) or the rat lungworm in a rat, definitive host, and in a giant African land snail (Achatina fulica), the intermediate host, in Phitsanulok, Thailand.Methods:Rats and giant African land snails were captured from Tha Pho sub-district, Phitsanulok, Thailand. Rats were killed and examined for adultA. cantonensis. The artificial digestion method following Baermann technique were used for isolation third stage larvae ofA. cantonensis.Results: Sixty-two rats were captured and they were identified as Rattus argentiventer,Rattus rattus (R. rattus), Bandicota savilei, andBandicota indicabut only one animal (R. rattus) of62rats (1.61%)was positive with adult worm ofA. cantonensis. The third stage larvae ofA. cantonensis were examined on307Angiostrongylus fulica snails. It was found that the overall infection rate was12.38%(38 infected out of307Achatina snails).Conclusions:This study demonstrates thatA. cantonensis is available in the natural hosts of Phitsanulok. This suggests that the transmissions of this parasite to human may occur in this region.