title: Parastrongylus (=Angiostrongylus) cantonensis now endemic in Louisiana wildlife.
abstract: Parastrongylus (=Angiostrongylus) cantonensis, a lung worm of rats, was first reported in the United States in 1987, with a probable introduction by infected rats from ships docking in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the mid-1980s. Since then, it has been reported in nonhuman primates and a boy from New Orleans, and in a horse from Picayune, Mississippi, a distance of 87 km from New Orleans. Parastrongylus cantonensis infection is herein reported in a lemur (Varencia variegata rubra) from New Iberia, Louisiana, a distance of 222 km from New Orleans, and in a wood rat (Neotomafloridanus) and in 4 opossums (Didelphis virginiana) from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a distance of 124 km from New Orleans. The potential of a great variety of gastropods serving as intermediate hosts in Louisiana may pose a threat to wildlife as well as to domesticated animals in the areas where infected Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 70803, USA. dykim@mail.vetmed.lsu.edu
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis / Q000254:growth & development*; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*