Uncinaria

Name

Latin: uncinatus = hooklike.

Classification

Genus of the nematode family Ancylostomatidae.

General Information

Specimens of U. stenocephala (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) are found worldwide in zones with moderate climate and live in the small intestine of canids (occasionally also in felids, rarely in pigs). The adults (female, 4–16 mm; male, 3–11 mm) suck blood by means of their buccal capsules, which is provided with 2 bladelike cutters (Figs. 1 and 2). The prepatent period is 14–17 days; the typical hookworm eggs are ovoidal and reach a size of 70–90 × 35–60 μm. The infections of the final hosts occur by oral uptake of the free-living, sheathed larvae 3 (there is no skin penetration). Two days after uptake the larvae hatch from the sheath in the stomach or in the duodenum and reach maturity after 2 molts already in 14–18 dpi. The patencylasts 4–6 months. Some of the larvae 3 are able to survive in paratenic hosts (rodents). By feeding such infected hosts, the canids/felids may...