Update of Cestodes Parasitizing Neotropical Hystricomorphic Rodent

Kegan Romelle Jones

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.885678

Update of Cestodes Parasitizing Neotropical Hystricomorphic Rodent

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Apr 29:9:885678. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.885678. eCollection 2022.

Author

Kegan Romelle Jones^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Mt. Hope, Trinidad and Tobago.
² Department of Food Production, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Abstract

This review aims at identifying cestodes that are present in hunted rodent species in the neo-tropical region. The rodent species that was investigated were the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, Linnaeus, 1766), lappe (Cuniculus paca, Linnaeus, 1766), agouti (Dasyprocta leporina, Linnaeus, 1758), chinchilla (Chinchilla chinchilla, Lichtenstein, 1829), Trinidad spiny rat (Proehimys trinitatus, Allen and Chapman, 1893), nutria (Myocastor coypus, Molina, 1782), and vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus, Desmarest, 1817). These rodent species are utilized for their meats in many rural communities in the Caribbean and South America. These rodents belong to the hystricomorphic group. Raillietina demerariensis Daniels, 1895 was commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of D. leporina, C. paca and P. trinitatus. Similarly, in the liver, muscle and subcutaneous tissue the metacestodes on Echinococcus vogeli Daniels, 1895 and Echinococcus oligarthrus was found in the lappe and agouti. The capybara was found to have the most species of cestodes in its gastrointestinal tract when compared to the agouti and lappe. However, metacestodes were not recorded in the tissues of the capybara. This surprising feature shows the effect of the difference in feeding habits between the capybara and the agouti and lappe. The literature reviewed in this study includes scientific publications on cestodes and metacestodes of Hystricomorphic rodents. An exhaustive search was performed using the digital repositories in Google Scholar, Scielo, Redalyc, Scopus and Pubmed. Literature searched spanned the years 1970-2021. Cestodes of zoonotic significance were E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus, with humans becoming infected when consuming eggs of contaminated food and water. The agouti and lappe act as intermediate host in the life cycle of E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus, the definitive host (canids and felids) become infected by consuming of tissue infected with metacestodes. Humans become infected through the ingestion of eggs from the definitive host where cystic lesions develop in the liver, lungs and other abdominal organs.

Keywords: Agouti paca; Dasyprocta leporina; Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris; agouti; capybara; lappe; nutria; vizcacha.

Publication types

Review