title: Calodium hepaticum (Nematoda: Capillaridae) in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Italy with scanning electron microscopy of the eggs.
abstract: Calodium hepaticum (Bancroft, 1893) Moravec, 1982 (syn. Capillaria hepatica) is a cosmopolitan capillariid nematode, infecting mainly rodents and occasionally other mammals, including humans. Reports of C. hepaticum in canids are rare and the present one is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported case in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus) in Italy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of the eggs of C. hepaticum allowed a precise description of the egg morphology, which is one of the most relevant specific characteristics of capillariid nematodes. The egg shell showed a fibrous beam-like network which differs from that of the eggs of closely related trichinelloid species. This characteristic can be useful especially in case of spurious infection, when misdiagnosis among different trichinelloids species can occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. fmacchion@vet.unipi.it
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Macchioni
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chelucci
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guardone
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mignone
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Prati
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002195:Capillaria / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017189:Enoplida Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005589:Foxes / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000662:veterinary; D010063:Ovum / Q000648:ultrastructure*