Geographic distribution of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in wild rats (Rattus rattus) and terrestrial snails in Florida, USA - PubMed (original) (raw)

Geographic distribution of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in wild rats (Rattus rattus) and terrestrial snails in Florida, USA

Heather D Stockdale Walden et al. PLoS One. 2017.

Abstract

The parasitic nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a major cause of eosinophilic meningitis in humans, and has been documented in other incidental hosts such as birds, horses, dogs and non-human primates. It is endemic in Hawaii, and there have been sporadic reports in the southern continental United States. This parasite uses rats as definitive hosts and snails as intermediate hosts. In this study, we collected potential definitive and intermediate hosts throughout Florida to ascertain the geographic distribution in the state: Rats, environmental rat fecal samples, and snails were collected from 18 counties throughout the state. Classical diagnostics and morphological identification, along with molecular techniques were used to identify nematode species and confirm the presence of A. cantonensis. Of the 171 Rattus rattus collected, 39 (22.8%) were positive for A. cantonensis, and 6 of the 37 (16.2%) environmental rat fecal samples collected in three of the surveyed counties were also positive for this parasite by real time PCR. We examined 1,437 gastropods, which represented 32 species; 27 (1.9%) were positive for A. cantonensis from multiple sites across Florida. Three non-native gastropod species, Bradybaena similaris, Zachrysia provisoria, and Paropeas achatinaceum, and three native gastropod species, Succinea floridana, Ventridens demissus, and Zonitoides arboreus, which are newly recorded intermediate hosts for the parasite, were positive for A. cantonensis. This study indicates that A. cantonensis is established in Florida through the finding of adult and larval stages in definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively, throughout the state. The ability for this historically subtropical nematode to thrive in a more temperate climate is alarming, however as the climate changes and average temperatures rise, gastropod distributions will probably expand, leading to the spread of this parasite in more temperate areas. Through greater awareness of host species and prevalence of A. cantonensis in the United States, potential accidental infections may be avoided.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1

Fig 1. Surveyed counties in Florida, USA, indicating positive and negative areas for Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

Counties that were positive for Angiostrongylus cantonensis from rat, environmental rat feces and/or gastropods samples are marked with closed circles. Counties negative for A. cantonensis are marked with open circles. The map can be found at

http://www.d-maps.com/carte.php?num\_car=6867&lang=en

.

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Grants and funding

This work was funded by the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology (NCVP); www.ncvetp.org. HW received funding for this project in 2013, UF project #00111635. Publication of this article was funded in part by the University of Florida Open Access Publishing Fund. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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