title: Life cycle of Mesocestoides corti in the dog (Canis familiaris).
abstract: Ten Beagle pups were each inoculated per os with 2,000 tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides corti from mice. The dogs were necropsied at 5-day intervals and the small intestine of each dog was divided into 3 equidistant sections. Adult cestodes were counted and characterized morphologically. The M corti reproduced asexually in the Beagles by longitudinal splitting of the parent scolex, separation of a new individual, and subsequent regrowth of 2 additional suckers on both the parent and newly formed scolices. Five days after the tetrathyridia were given, evidence of parent scolex division was present. The ability of M corti to reproduce asexually in the definitive host enabled rapid proliferation of new organisms, with approximately 53,000 present 45 days after inoculation.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002589:Cestoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D002590:Cestode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice