Angiostrongylus cantonensis

Angiostrongylus cantonensis
Class	Nematoda
Super-family	Metastrongyloidea

Also known as:

Parastrongylus cantonensis

Hosts

Intermediate hosts: Molluscs.

Definitive hosts: Rats and humans.

Identification

A. cantonensis is a parasite of the superfamily Metastrongyloidea. Females have white tubules spiralling around the blood-filled intestine.

Life Cycle

The adult female worms lay eggs within the pulmonary arteries. The eggs hatch and go into the alveoli. They are then coughed up and swallowed, where they are later past out in the faeces. The L1 are ingested by the intermediate host, the mollusc. Infection of the definitive host is by ingestion of the mollusc infected with the L3 larvae. The larvae then enter the digestive tract.