As well as the above life cycles ''T. canis'' can infect paratenic hosts such as mice, rats and some birds. Events occur just as in the older dog, i.e. larvae migrate → liver → lungs → heart → somatic tissues → granulomatous reactions → 'waiting phase'; but in this case, the somatic larvae are waiting for the animal that they are in (which is acting as a '''paratenic host''') to be eaten by a dog, fox, wolf or other canid, where they will establish as adults or somatic larvae (depending on the age of the predator). This explains how humans (as warm-blooded non-canid animals) enter into the epidemiological picture. The prepatent period of ''T. canis'' is 4 - 5 weeks in the canid host. | As well as the above life cycles ''T. canis'' can infect paratenic hosts such as mice, rats and some birds. Events occur just as in the older dog, i.e. larvae migrate → liver → lungs → heart → somatic tissues → granulomatous reactions → 'waiting phase'; but in this case, the somatic larvae are waiting for the animal that they are in (which is acting as a '''paratenic host''') to be eaten by a dog, fox, wolf or other canid, where they will establish as adults or somatic larvae (depending on the age of the predator). This explains how humans (as warm-blooded non-canid animals) enter into the epidemiological picture. The prepatent period of ''T. canis'' is 4 - 5 weeks in the canid host. |