The effect of temperature on mobility of Angiostrongylus costaricensis third stage larvae

Third stage larvae (L3) from Angiostrongylus costaricensis were incubated in water at room temperature and at 5 §C and their mobility was assessed daily for 17 days. Viability was associated with the mobility and position of the L3, and it was confirmed by inoculation per os in albino mice. The number of actively moving L3 sharply decreased within 3 to 4 days, but there were some infective L3 at end of observation. A mathematical model estimated 80 days as the time required to reduce the probability of infective larvae to zero. This data does not support the proposition of refrigerating vegetables and raw food as an isolated procedure for prophylaxis of human abdominal angiostrongylosis infection

Registro de Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 (Mollusca, Gastropoda) no Brasil: caramujo hospedeiro intermediário da angiostrongilíase / Occurrence of Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in Brazil: intermediate snail host of angiostrongyliasis

A introduçäo de Achatina fulica é assinalada em Itariri, SP, Brasil. Essa espécie de caramujo terrestre foi importada para cultivo, visando à comercializaçäo para consumo humano como "escargot". O encontro de exemplares em vida livre mostra a dispersäo de A. fulica e, conseqüentemente, o risco de transmissäo de Angiostrongylus cantonensis, nematóide parasita do homem e de outros vertebrados. Além disso, o caramujo é uma praga importante da agricultura

Angiostrongilose abdominal: profilaxia pela destruiçäo das larvas infectantes em alimentos tratados com sal, vinagre ou hipoclorito de sódio / Abdominal angiostrongylosis: prophilaxis through treatment of food with solutions of saturated sodium chloride, vinegar and sodium hypochlorite

There is a high prevalence of accidental human infection with Angiostrongylus costaricensis in some areas in southern Brazil and sometimes it presents as severe intestinal disease. Prophylaxis is important since there is no medical treatment for the disease. The ingestion of fruits and vegetables contaminated with the mucous secretion of infected molluscs (the intermediate hosts) is one of the proposed modes of transmission. Third stage larvae were incubated at 5 degrees C for 12 hours, in solutions of saturated sodium chloride, vinegar and sodium hypochlorite 1.5 per cent. The larvae had their viability tested through inoculation into albino mice. The percentage of larvae that established infection were 0 per cent in the group treated with sodium hypochloride, 1.8 per cent with NaCl and 2.4 per cent with vinegar. In conclusion, all substances tested reduced the population of viable larvae and may be useful in food decontamination, as a prophylactic measure for abdominal angiostrongylosis.