Land snails and periods at high risk for protostrongylid infection on a sheep-grazed pasture of northeast Tunisia.
The population density and level of infection of terrestrial molluscs, and the output by sheep of first stage protostrongylid larvae, were assessed monthly during a 1-year study. Muellerius capillaris was the predominant protostrongylid (approximately 80% of the larval output); Neostrongylus was also found. Eobania vermiculata, Cernuella virgata and Trochoidea elegans were the most common molluscs. Juveniles were less infected than adults. Banded E. vermiculata had a lower intensity of infection than unbanded ones. Nearly 75% of protostrongylid larvae harboured by molluscs on the studied pasture were found in E. vermiculata. The infectivity of pasture was at its lowest in the dry and hot period (June-September). Infection of snails was primarily related to temperature and the importance and frequency of rains, and secondarily to larval excretion in sheep faeces.
Lahmar
S
S
Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Service de Parasitologie, Sidi-Thabet, Tunisia.
Cabaret
J
J
Cheniti
T
T
D000818:Animals; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D009348:Nematoda / Q000254:growth & development*; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D011891:Rain; D012621:Seasons; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D012908:Snails / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology*; D013696:Temperature; D014416:Tunisia