Alba-Hurtado Fernando
UNAM, México
Title: Cockroaches periplaneta americana as potential disseminators of toxocara canis
Biography
Biography: Alba-Hurtado Fernando
Abstract
Cockroaches are cosmopolitan and omnivorous insects which can ingest feces from dogs therefore, it has been suggested that cockroaches could disseminate Toxocara canis eggs. The aim of this study was to determine if Periplaneta americana cockroaches are capable of disseminating infective eggs from T. canis (ieTc). They were used 100 groups of infected cockroaches with approximately 500 ieTc/cockroaches were used (n=2). A direct microscopic test with feces of each group of cockroaches was made daily to determine the number of ieTc/released in feces. Feces from other 60 infected cockroaches were employed to inoculated rats. Seven groups of rats (n=5) were used; rats of groups 1,2,3,4 and 5 were inoculated with 5mg of feces from days 1,2,3,6 and 10 post-infection respectively; group 6 and 7 served as positive and negative controls respectively. Rats were euthanized at day 20 post-infection; brain, lung, liver and kidney were taken and artificially digested to count the quantity of larvae present in them. Finally, serum levels of anti-Toxocara antibodies were measured through ELISA test. The cockroaches released ieTc in feces during the first six days pos-infection. Rats inoculated with cockroaches –feces up to 6 days pos-infection had larvae in different organs (mainly in brain and lung) and higher specific antibodies levels than the control group (p<0.01). These results show insect-mammal T. canis transmission, and it suggests than cockroaches could be a good disseminator of T. canis in nature.