- Lungworm
Lungworms are parasitic
nematode worms of the orderStrongylida that infest the lungs of vertebrates. The name is used for a variety of different groups of nematodes, some of which also have other common names; what they have in common is that they migrate to their hosts' lungs or respiratory tracts, and causebronchitis orpneumonia . The category is thus more a descriptive than a precisely taxonomic one. The commonest lungworms belong to one of two groups, the superfamilyTrichostrongyloidea or the superfamilyMetastrongyloidea , but not all the species in these superfamilies are lungworms.The lungworms in the superfamily Trichostrongyloidea include several species in the genus "
Dictyocaulus " which infest hoofed animals, including most common domestic species. Different species are found incattle anddeer ("D. viviparus"),donkey s andhorse s ("D. arnfeldi"), andsheep andgoat s ("D. filaria"). These animals havedirect life-cycle s. The lungworms in the superfamily Metastrongyloidea include species that infest a wider range of mammals, including sheep, goats andpig s but alsocat s anddog s. These include "Metastrongylus apri", found in pigs; "Oslerus osleri" found in dogs; and "Aelurostrongylus abstrusus" found in cats. Some of these have indirect, and complex, life-cycles; several of them involveslug s orsnail s as intermediate hosts, and in the case of "A. abstrusus" the cat is normally infected by eating a bird or rodent that has itself eaten the original host [cite web | title = Lungworm Infection: Introduction | work = The Merck Veterinary Manual | date = 2006 | url = http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/120700.htm | accessdate = 2008-01-09 ] .Lungworm infestations can cause significant distress to the animal but are usually treatable with drugs.
Oxibendazole is commonly used as a prophylactic against these and other nematode infestations.External links
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