Comparative studies on Philippine Paragonimus westermani and Japanese Paragonimus westermani

ABSTRACT

Paragonimus westermani in the Philippines has been reconfirmed to develop to sexual maturity in albino rats. The migration route of this species in albino rats have also been studied in detail and compared with that of Paragonimus westermani in Japan in ratsAs the result it was found that the course of migration of the larvae of Philippine P. westermani in rats was quite different from that of Japanese P. westermani in ratsIt has shown that it is possible to differentiate the species of Paragonimus westermani in the Philippines and Japan by means of immunoserological techniques such as compliment fixation test, double diffusion test and immunoelectrophoresis. The Philippine P. westermani from Japanese P. westermani not only morphology but also biological and immunological chararcteristics, therefore we reiterate the new name paragonimus philippinensis, (Ito, 1978) Philippine P. westermaniA new theory by Miyazaki (1977) concerning the taxonomy of Paragonimus westermani is also discussed. (Summary)