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Equine stomach worm, Drashia megastoma (Spirurida: Habronematidae): first SEM report

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Abstract

Drashia megastoma (Spirurida: Habronematidae) occurs in nodules in the stomach wall and rarely free in the stomach of the horse, mule and zebra throughout the world. D. megastoma develops in the housefly Musca domestica and causes gastric haemorrhage or even perforation of the stomach. Larvae of this nematode may be found in the lung, skin and eye of the host. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the surface ultrastructure of adult worms of this nematode. In both sexes, the head end was separated from the rest of the body by a constriction. The stoma was infundibuliform with a wall forming two separated lateral vales. The pseudo-labia were not lobed. Around the mouth, four submedian cephalic papillae and two amphids were seen. A pair of ciliated cervical papillae was present, and an excretory pore was observed. There were two lateral alae. In the female, the vulva was opened anteriorly. The caudal end of the male was alate and the spicules were unequal. At the posterior end of the male, four pairs of stalked precloacal papillae, two median precloacal papillae close to the cloaca, two pairs of postcloacal papillae and a cluster of small papillae were present.

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Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to Dr. Christine M. Budke of Texas A&M University, USA for her sincere friendship, understanding and kind support. The author expresses her gratitude to Professor Larry A. Arsenault, head of the electron microscope facility, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Canada for his assistance in providing all facilities during the study. Furthermore, the valuable help of Mr. Ernie Spitzer, chief technician, and all technicians in the electron microscope facility are gratefully acknowledged. Many thanks are addressed to Dr. Donato Traversa of the Department of Biomedical Comparative Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Italy, for providing some valuable references.

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  1. Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, P.O. Box 1177, Urmia, Iran

    Soraya Naem

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  1. Soraya Naem
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Correspondence to Soraya Naem.

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Naem, S. Equine stomach worm, Drashia megastoma (Spirurida: Habronematidae): first SEM report. Parasitol Res 101, 913–918 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0558-z

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