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. 2022 Dec;28(12):2564-2567.
doi: 10.3201/eid2812.220418.

Autochthonous Angiostrongylus cantonensis Lungworms in Urban Rats, Valencia, Spain, 2021

María Teresa Galán-Puchades, Mercedes Gómez-Samblás, Antonio Osuna, Sandra Sáez-Durán, Rubén Bueno-Marí, Màrius V Fuentes

Autochthonous Angiostrongylus cantonensis Lungworms in Urban Rats, Valencia, Spain, 2021

María Teresa Galán-Puchades et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

To determine the role of rats as potential reservoirs of zoonotic parasites, we examined rats trapped in urban sewers of Valencia, Spain, in 2021. Morphologic and molecular identification and sequencing identified autochthonous Angiostrongylus cantonensis nematodes, the most common cause of human eosinophilic meningitis, in pulmonary arteries of Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus rats.

Keywords: Angiostrongylus cantonensis; Rattus norvegicus; Rattus rattus; Spain; Valencia; lungworm; parasites; rats.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Angiostrongylus cantonensis lungworms from lungs of rats trapped in Valencia, Spain, 2021. A) Adult female with characteristic barber-pole appearance. Scale bar indicates 500 μm. B, C) Copulatory bursae of 2 male worms supported by bursal rays. Scale bars indicate 50 μm. D) Detail of the long spicula of a male worm. Scale bar indicates 300 μm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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