Occurrence of Dioctophyme renale larvae (Goeze, 1782) (Nematoda: Enoplida) in a new host from southern Brazil

Abstract Dioctophymatosis is caused by the giant kidney worm Dioctophyme renale which occurs in dogs, cats, and wild mammals. In Brazil, the disease has been diagnosed in dogs from several states around the country. In the present study, the occurrence of D. renale larvae in snakes from southern of Brazil is reported. Three specimens of Philodryas patagoniensis (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) (common names in Brazil: “parelheira”, “papa-pinto”) roadkill in the county of Capão do Leão, State of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, were necropsied. Two third-stage larvae of D. renale were found in the coelomic cavity of P. patagoniensis. This study reveals a new host for D. renale larvae in the southern region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This particular geographic area of the country has stood out as several cases of D. renale infection have been reported in a number of vertebrates from this region including domestic dogs and cats and wild animals such as carnivores, fish, and freshwater turtles.摘要 巨肾虫病（Dioctophymatosis）由巨肾线虫（Dioctophyme renale）引起，该寄生虫可寄生于犬、猫及野生哺乳动物体内。在巴西，该国多个州的犬只中均已确诊该疾病病例。本研究报道了巴西南部地区蛇类体内巨肾线虫幼虫的检出情况：研究人员对巴西南部南里奥格兰德州卡庞杜莱昂县境内的3具道路致死的巴塔哥尼亚斜鳞蛇（Philodryas patagoniensis，蛇目：斜鳞蛇科（Dipsadidae），巴西当地俗名："parelheira"、"papa-pinto"）标本实施了尸体剖检，在其中1条个体的体腔内检出2株巨肾线虫三期幼虫。本研究在巴西南部南里奥格兰德州地区首次报道了该寄生虫幼虫的新宿主。该特定地理区域此前已有多例巨肾线虫感染病例报道，感染宿主涵盖该区域内的多种脊椎动物，包括家养犬、猫以及食肉目动物、鱼类、淡水龟等野生动物。