Helminth parasites of conventionally maintained laboratory mice - II. Inbred strains with an adaptation of the anal swab technique

Worm burdens recovered from inbred mice strains, namely C57B1/6, C57B1/10, CBA, BALB/c, DBA/2 and C3H/He, conventionnally maintained in two institutional animal houses in the State of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, were analysed and compared, regarding their prevalences and mean intensities. Three parasite species were observed: the nematodes Aspiculuris tetraptera, Syphacia obvelata and the cestode Vampirolepis nana. A modification of the anal swab technique is also proposed for the first time as an auxiliary tool for the detection of oxyurid eggs in mice.