Your boss brings in some wormy things and mentions that “his cat regurgitated these in the morning”.
What is your diagnosis? Risk for humans?
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A parasitologist's view of the world
Welcome to Parasite Case of the Week
Every week I will post a new Case, along with the answer to the previous case. Please feel free to write in with your answers, comments, and questions. Also check out my image archive website at http://parasitewonders.com. Enjoy!
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Please note that all opinions expressed here are mine and not my employer. Information provided is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice. I do not accept medical consults from patients.
The Fine Print:
Please note that all opinions expressed here are mine and not my employer. Information provided is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice. I do not accept medical consults from patients.
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9 comments:
Toxocara cati, adult worms
Without much knowledge about animal Parasitology, I would agree with the preferring identification. The lateral alae are visible. The three lips mentioned in the books are not clearly seen. For sure, this one is for Old One.
Florida Fan
The alae of T. cati are short and wide, however in this case the alae appears to be long and narrow, so i will go with Toxascaris leonina. When the infective eggs of all 3 species, T. cati, T. canis and T.leonina (rare in humans), are ingested they provoque visceral, ocular, and neural larva migrans
Gorgeous photographs.
BW in VT
The three lips put these worms in the ascarid family. There are 2 common ascarid species that infect cats. One is Toxocara cati (mystax), the other is Toxascaris leonina. One can differentiate the two using a number of characteristics such as size, spicule morphology, egg morphology and shape of cervical alae. The photos clearly demonstrate long thin cervical alae of T. leonina. T. cati alternatively has cervical alae shaped like an arrowhead. In our lab we would verify the identification by looking at the eggs if any were available.
T. leonina poses very little zoonotic threat. It has been involved in a couple of unusual infections where gravid worms were found in a human leg abcess also it can rarely infect children as visceral larval migrans (VLM). T. cati is much more involved with VLM, even migrating to the eyes and brain of humans.
While reading a story in National Geographic about mans early ancestors in Africa, I came across a rendering of a Leopard clutching the corpse of an early hominid. It occurred to me that not only are humans part of the great Circle of Life, but like a mouse we serve as transport host in the great life cycle of T. cati.
Hakuna Matata my friends
I am torn between Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina. I have to admit, the angle of the specimen makes analysis of the shape of the alae difficult to interpret, but at face value, they appear too long and slender for T. cati.
Unfortunately I am not familiar with the spicules of any of them, so I cannot interpret the last image.
All three species can infect cats, so the host data is irrelevant.
With regards to human infection, T. canis and T. cati cause a visceral larval or ocular larval migrans, but human infection with T. leonina is less likely and it's possible documented cases of such might actually be better attributed to a Toxocara species.
I have been driven to distraction many times by the alae quandary. I have found that if I truely have a T. cati the arrowhead alae is very obvious.
The characteristic of winged spicules is unique to T. canis (among these three species of ascarids) and I believe it would be seen in the photo provided.
These are all the reasons I like to see eggs. It makes for a much easier an d cleaner ID.
Is T. leonina less likely (than T. cati) to cause VLM when people are exposed, or is it just less common in cats so people are exposed less?
Toxocara spp.
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