Prior to the work of Cable and Hopp (J. Parasit. 40(6): 674.680, 1954) Neoechinorhynchus emydis (L e i d y, 1851) was the only recognized species of Acanthocephala in North American turtles. To date, a total of five species have been described. Of these, two species (Neoechinorbynchus pseudemydis Cable and Hopp, 1954, and N. emyditoides Fisher, 1960) were recovered from six of 12 Louisiana turtles (Pseudemys scripta elegans (Wied)) examined by Fisher (J. Parasit. 46(2): 257-266, 1960). He (1960) also found N. chrysemydis Cable and Hopp, 1954 in Pseudemys scripta subsp. The data pt .sented are results of studies conducted between the spring of 1965 and the summer of 1966. Seventynine turtles (48 female and 31 males) encompassing seven species (47 Pseudemys scripta elegans (Wied), three P. floridana hoyi (Holbrook), eight Chelydra serpentina serpentina (L.), eight Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis Gray, seven Terrapene carolina carolina (L.), five T. c. triunguis (Agassiz) and one Trionyx muticus (LeSueur) collected from Baton Rouge and vicinity were examined. This investigation revealed the presence of three species of Acanthocephala (Neoechinorhynchus pseudemydis, N. emyditoides, and N. chrysemydis) in Louisiana turtles and confirms Fisher’s (1960) work. Of the seven species of turtles examined, only P. s. e!egans (25 16 females and 9 males) and P. floridana hoyi (2 females) were positive with infection. Three of the 25 P. s. e!egans had mixed infection comprising three species of Neoechinorhynchus while seven had two species respectively. P. f!oridana hoyi represents a host record for N. chrysemydis;

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Myiasis in man and animals in the old world

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the myiasis of humans and domestic animals. Myiasis is the infestation of live human and vertebrate animals with dipterous larvae, which, at least for a certain period, feed on the host's dead or living tissue, liquid body substances, or ingested food. Myiasis is a large field with publications in many widely dispersed areas of the literature. Myiasis has a greater economic impact as an infestation of animals than of humans; there are no species of Diptera which are restricted to humans for their development but there are many that have a very restricted host range on animals. The different forms of myiasis have been classified in two ways. First, in anatomical terms, based on the part of the host's body that is infested and second, in parasitological terms, according to the types of host–parasite relationship. Myiasis from a range of species produces an immunological response in the host. There are three levels at which control of myiasis species can be considered: (1) suppression or eradication of fly population (for example, eradication of Cochliomyia hominivorax and Hypoderma species); (2). avoidance of infestation where adult control is not possible (for example, by fly screening, dressing of wounds, prophylactic treatments); and (3) treatment because of failure of both above levels(removal of larvae manually or by insecticides, application of antibiotics). Analytical studies of myiasis have increased dramatically, particularly in alliance with new control and monitoring methods that demand an increased understanding of the biology, physiology, and ecology of the parasites, for example, serodiagnosis, vaccine research and trapping.

Myiasis of humans and domestic animals.

World Species of Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

The main function of snake venoms lies in the procuring of food and its digestion. The death of the prey is due to respiratory or circulatory failure caused by various neurotoxins, cardiotoxins, coagulation factors, and other substances acting alone or synergistically. The various enzymes injected into the prey start the digestion of the tissues. The venoms thus contain substances designed to affect vital processes, such as the function of nerves and muscles, the action of the heart, the circulation of the blood, and the permeability of membranes. Snake venoms and other toxic secretions contain a large number of pharmacologically highly active substances with a specific mode of action. Since such compounds are of great value in the investigation of important physiologic processes, the research on venoms is not the esoteric activity that one might think it to be considering the exotic origin of many venoms.

Chemistry of Protein Toxins in Snake Venoms

An epidemic of enterohemorrhagic colitis caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC-O157) occurred in a nursery school in a rural area of Japan in September 1996. The EHEC-O157 were isolated both from patients and houseflies collected at the school. The flies were suspected to be mechanical vectors of the pathogen. Feeding experiments of EHEC-O157 to houseflies showed that the ingested bacteria were harbored in the intestine of flies and continued to be excreted at least for 3 days after feeding. Scanning electron microscopy showed that a large number of EHEC-O157 adhered to the surface of the housefly mouthparts and actively proliferated in the minute spaces of the labellum. Food masses containing EHEC-O157 in the fly intestine were completely surrounded by a peritrophic membrane during digestion and discharged rapidly. The persistence of bacteria in the intestine and feces is mainly a result of proliferation in the mouthparts and accumulation in the crop. Our results strongly suggest that houseflies are not simple mechanical vectors of EHEC. The epidemiologic potential of houseflies to disseminate EHEC-O157 may be greater than initially suspected.

Houseflies: not simple mechanical vectors of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Three Cases of Intestinal Myiasis in Japan

Studies on sea-snake venoms. i. protein nature of the neurotoxic component.

Summary

A third-stage larva of Dryomyza formosa (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Dryomyzidae) was found in the fresh stool of a 27-year-old Japanese woman resident of Shiobara, 150 km north of Tokyo, on 16 November 1998. This is the first record of myiasis due to Dryomyza. Detection of this maggot (2 cm long) by the patient herself was associated with her longstanding delusion of abdominal parasitosis as a symptom of chronic schizophrenia. Circumstantial evidence agreed with this being a genuine case of intestinal myiasis, apparently due to accidental ingestion of the insect, with no signs that the patient had contrived the report, nor that the maggot had invaded the stool post-defaecation. This case draws attention to the likelihood that some personality states are predisposed to noticing and reporting myiasis, when it occurs. We review other conditions (mental and physical) that are more prone to myiasis.

Suspected intestinal myiasis due to Dryomyza formosa in a Japanese schizophrenic patient with symptoms of delusional parasitosis.

Nine sarcophagid larvae were found on the right eyelid, cornea, and bulbar conjunctiva of a debilitated patient in a hospital in Osaka, Japan. Inflammation of the right eyelid and conjunctival congestion, probably initiated or aggravated by the larvae, were found. The larvae were removed and reared for accurate identification, and, on the basis of the characteristics of the 3rd instar and adult flies, the species was identified as Sarcophaga crassipalpis Macquart. This is a report of ophthalmomyiasis caused by this facultative parasite in a human. Patients with diminished consciousness in hospitals need protection from flies.

Satoshi Shinonaga

Papers

Three Cases of Intestinal Myiasis in Japan

Studies on sea-snake venoms. i. protein nature of the neurotoxic component.

Suspected intestinal myiasis due to Dryomyza formosa in a Japanese schizophrenic patient with symptoms of delusional parasitosis.

Ophthalmomyiasis caused by Sarcophaga crassipalpis (Diptera : Sarcophagidae) in a hospital patient

Aural myiasis due to Lucilia sericata (Diptera : Calliphoridae) in a patient suffering from diabetes, hypochondriasis and depression