Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

Concepts In Animal Parasitology, Scott L. Gardner, Sue Ann Gardner

Zea E-Books Collection

This is a textbook covering concepts in animal parasitology. It is meant to be used by students, teachers, professors, researchers, and members of the public who are interested in learning about animal parasite biology, systematics, taxonomy, zoogeography, and ecology. The primary intended audience is upper-level undergraduate or graduate university students who have knowledge of basic biology and, particularly, basic animal biology. (863 pages, illustrated)

One of the most fascinating things that a person can experience in the complex realm of biology is the discovery of an animal living inside another animal. If this discovery takes place at an early enough …

Checklist Of Bloodfeeding Mites (Acari: Spinturnicidae) From The Wings Of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In The Manú Biosphere Reserve, Peru, Donald D. Gettinger

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

A survey collection of mites of the family Spinturnicidae from Peruvian bats includes 11 species of Periglischrus (acutisternus, gameroi, grandisoma, herrerai, hopkinsi, iheringi, micronycteridis, ojasti, paracutisternus, paravargasi, and ramirezi) and 2 Spinturnix (americanus and bakeri); almost all represent new locality records. This survey collection is available for further study at the following repositories: The Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; and the Laboratório de Espeleobiologia y Acarologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. When spinturnicid mites are …

Reducing The Risk Of Invasive Pathogens To Wildlife Health In The United States, Edward E. Clark Jr., Marshall Meyers, David Eldon Starling, Brent Stewart, Nathan Stone, Gary Tabor, Jeffrey S. White

National Invasive Species Council

Call to Action

In keeping with action items 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 of the 2016–2018 National Invasive Species Council (NISC) Management Plan, the Wildlife Health Task Team of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) was charged with: 1) identifying the major areas of vulnerability to native wildlife from the introduction and spread of invasive pathogens, and 2) making recommendations to address these vulnerabilities, including through potential changes in statute, regulation, policy, or practice of the relevant agencies.

Plants, Prions And Possibilities: Current Understanding And Significance Of Prion Uptake Into Plants, Tracy A. Nichols

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an infectious, neurodegenerative disease of deer (white-tailed and mule), elk, moose, sika deer and muntjac caused by a misfolded version of a normally occurring protein. The notion that CWD could be spread indirectly via the environment has been documented and accepted in the scientific community for quite some time. Deer and elk consume soil, inhale dust and lick objects that have infectious material on them, resulting in chronic, low dose exposure. Surface contamination of plants with urine or feces is likely an additional source of exposure via ingestion and has been modeled in the laboratory …

Baylisascaris Larva Migrans, Kevin R. Kazacos

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Zoonotic diseases, such as baylisascariasis, are receiving increasing attention as components of disease emergence and resurgence (Kazacos, 2001). Baylisascariasis is caused by the roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis and is one of the more recent zoonotic disease developments. This disease remains one of the least known and poorly understood zoonotic diseases, yet over the past several decades it has become widespread. It originated in wildlife species and is now well established as a human malady. Baylisascariasis is transmitted to humans via consumption of contaminated feces, and the role of wildlife (primarily raccoons) in this transmission process is becoming more clearly known and …

Echinococcus Multilocularis In Foxes And Raccoon Dogs: An Increasing Concern For Baltic Countries, Guna Bagrade, Gunita Deksne, Zanda Ozoliņa, Samantha Jane Howlett, Maria Interisano, Adriano Casulli, Edoardo Pozio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background

In Europe, the life cycle of Echinococcus multilocularis is predominantly sylvatic, involving red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) as the main definitive hosts and rodents such as muskrats and arvicolids as intermediate hosts. The parasite is the etiological agent of human alveolar echinococcosis, a malignant zoonotic disease caused by the accidental ingestion of eggs shed by definitive hosts in their feces. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of E. multilocularis in red foxes and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and to study the environmental factors favoring the perpetuation of the parasite in Latvia. …

Prevalence Of Tick-Borne Pathogens In Small Mammals And White-Tailed Deer In Southeast Nebraska, Tim Hotaling

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The prevalence of tick-borne diseases has been increasing in the United States for the past couple decades. Studies have been conducted throughout the US identifying tick-borne disease pathogens as well as their hosts and prevalence. Research was conducted in Nebraska to determine the presence of some tick-borne disease pathogens, their vectors, and their hosts, with emphasis made on Borrelia spp., Rickettsia rickettsii, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis.

Small rodents in southeast Nebraska were trapped and sampled at eight study sites using live capture traps. Captured rodents were assessed for active parasitism by ticks which were collected and placed in alcohol. …

Taxonomy And Molecular Epidemiology Of Echinococcus Granulosus Sensu Lato, Thomas Romig, Dennis Ebi, Marion Wassermann

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Echinococcus granulosus, formerly regarded as a single species with a high genotypic and phenotypic diversity, is now recognized as an assemblage of cryptic species, which differ considerably in morphology, development, host specificity (including infectivity/pathogenicity for humans) and other aspects. This diversity is reflected in the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes and has led to the construction of phylogenetic trees and hypotheses on the origin and geographic dispersal of various taxa. Based on phenotypic characters and gene sequences, E. granulosus (sensu lato) has by now been subdivided into E. granulosus sensu stricto (including the formerly identified genotypic variants G1-3), …

Bovine Herpesvirus 1 Productive Infection Stimulates Inflammosome Formation And Caspase 1 Activity, Jianlin Wang, Jeffrey Alexander, Matthew S. Wiebe, Clinton J. Jones

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), a significant viral pathogen of cattle, causes inflammation in affected tissue during acute infection. Consequently, we tested whether productively infected bovine cells stimulate inflammasome formation. Expression of two components required for inflammasome formation, the DNA sensor IFI16 (gamma-interferon-inducible protein 16) and NLRP3 (NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3), were induced in bovine kidney cells by eight hours after infection. IFI16 was detected in punctate granules localized to the cytoplasm and nucleus. During productive infection, more than ten times more cells were caspase 1 positive, which is activated following inflammasome formation. Two caspase 1 inhibitors had …

Varestrongylus Eleguneniensis Sp. N. (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae): A Widespread, Multi-Host Lungworm Of Wild North American Ungulates, With An Emended Diagnosis For The Genus And Explorations Of Biogeography, Guilherme G. Verocai, Susan J. Kutz, Manon Simard, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: A putative new species of Varestrongylus has been recently recognized in wild North American ungulates based on the ITS-2 sequences of larvae isolated from feces during a wide geographic survey. No taxonomic description was provided, as adult specimens were not examined. Methods: Lungworm specimens were collected in the terminal bronchioles of muskoxen from Quebec, and a woodland caribou from central Alberta, Canada. The L3 stage was recovered from experimentally infected slugs (Deroceras spp.). Description of specimens was based on comparative morphology and integrated approaches. Molecular identity was determined by PCR and sequencing of the ITS-2 region of …

Surveillance Of Selected Diseases In Free-Ranging Elk (Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni) In Nebraska, 1995-2009, Michael A. Cover, Scott E. Hygnstrom, David W. Oates, Kit M. Hams, Kurt C. Vercauteren

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Sera samples were collected from 21 free-ranging, captured female elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) in 1995- 96, and tissue and sera samples were collected from 415 hunter-harvested elk from 1995 to 2006 and tested for selected diseases. Titers for Anaplasma marginale were detected in 81 of 436 (19%) elk. Occurrence of antibodies to anaplasmosis increased from 4 to 40 elk from 2002 to 2006. Titers for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) were detected in 18 of 346 (5%) samples. Titers for Leptospira interrogans serovars were detected in 21 of 289 (7%) of samples from 1995 to 2004. Titers for …

Protostrongylid Parasites And Pneumonia In Captive And Wild Thinhorn Sheep (Ovis Dalli), Emily J. Jenkins, A. M. Veitch, Susan J. Kutz, T. K. Bollinger, J. M. Chirino-Trejo, B. T. Elkin, K. H. West, Eric P. Hoberg, L. Polley

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

We describe health significance of protostrongylid parasites (Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei and Protostrongylus stilesi) and other respiratory pathogens in more than 50 naturally infected Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) from the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories (1998–2002) as well as in three Stone’s sheep (O. d. stonei) experimentally infected with P. odocoilei (2000–2002). Histological lesions in the brain and distribution of P. odocoilei in the muscles of experimentally and naturally infected sheep were consistent with a previously hypothesized ‘‘central nervous system to muscle’’ pattern of migration for P. odocoilei. Dimensions of granulomas associated with eggs of …

Premature Induction Of An Immunosuppressive Regulatory T Cell Response During Acute Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection, Jacob D. Estes, Qingsheng Li, Matthew R. Reynolds, Stephen W. Wietgrefe, Lijie Duan, Timothy Schacker, Louis J. Picker, David I. Watkins, Jeffrey D. Lifson, Cavan Reilly, John V. Carlis, Ashley T. Haase

Qingsheng Li Publications

Here we report the results of an investigation into the possibility that one mechanism responsible for the establishment of persistent human immunodeficiency virus infection is an early regulatory T (T_reg) cell response that blunts virus- specific responses. Using the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)–infected rhesus macaque model, we show that, indeed, viral replication and immune activation in lymphatic tissue drive a premature immunosuppressive response, with dramatic increases in the frequencies of CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ Treg cells, transforming growth factor–β1⁺ cells, interleukin–10+ cells, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase+CD3⁺ cells.When we compared SIV infection with rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) …

Cutting Edge: Cd4+Cd25+ Regulatory T Cells Contribute To Gender Differences In Susceptibility To Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, Jay Reddy, Hanspeter Waldner, Xingmin Zhang, Zsolt Illes, Kai W. Wucherpfennig, Raymond A. Sobel, Vijay K. Kuchroo

Jay Reddy Publications

Female B10.S mice are highly resistant to proteolipid protein (PLP) 139–151-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and depletion of PLP 139–151- reactive CD4+CD25+regulatory T (Treg) cells can slightly increase their EAE susceptibility. Although male B10.S mice are moderately susceptible to EAE, we report that depletion of Treg cells in male B10.S mice before immunization with PLP 139–151 renders them highly susceptible to severe EAE with more CNS neutrophil infiltrates than nondepleted controls. Increased susceptibility is associated with an enhanced PLP 139–151-specific T cell response and greater production of IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-17. Male CD4+CD25+ effector cells depleted of Treg cells proliferate …

Development And Pathogenesis Of Parelaphostrongylus Odocoilei (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) In Experimentally Infected Thinhorn Sheep (Ovis Dalli), Emily J. Jenkins, Eric P. Hoberg, L. Polley

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Recently, the protostrongylid nematode Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei has been reported in a new host species, thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli). For the first time, we completed the life cycle of P. odocoilei in three Stone’s sheep (O. dalli stonei) and two thinhorn hybrids (O. dalli stonei × O. dalli dalli), each infected with 200 third-stage larvae from slugs (Deroceras laeve). The prepatent period ranged from 68 days to 74 days, and shedding of first-stage larvae (L1) peaked at >10,000 L1 per gram of feces between 90 and 110 days postinfection. A total of 75, …

Elaeophorosis In Red Deer From Spain, Mónica Santín-Durán, J. M. Alunda, J. M. San Miguel, Eric P. Hoberg, C. De La Fuente

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Elaeophorosis, caused by Elaeophora elaphi, was observed in red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Toledo Province (Spain) for the first time. Adult specimens of Elaeophora elaphi were found in the hepatic vessels of nine of 151 red deer between October 1994 and September 1995; intensity of infection was two to 18 nematodes per host. Adult nematodes were only found during the period from fall through early spring. No differences were present between sex or age groups. Parasites were not found in a limited sample from fallow deer (Dama dama). Blood samples were negative for the presence of …

Quantitative Image Analysis Of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Replication In Macrophages Coinfected With Mycobacterium Avium Complex, Qingsheng Li, Keith G. Mansfield, Andrew Lackner, Ashley T. Haase

Qingsheng Li Publications

Mycobacterium avium is the most frequent cause of disseminated bacterial infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection and in rhesus macaques with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. This animal model of AIDS was used to test the hypothesis that this frequent association is the result of reciprocal enhancement of replication of both microorganisms. The replication of M. avium and SIV was analyzed in lymphatic tissues obtained from rhesus macaques experimentally inoculated with SIVmac who developed or remained free of overt M. avium infection. In situ hybridization, quantitative image analysis, and staining of M. avium and of macrophages …

Microevolutionary Patterns And Molecular Markers: The Genetics Of Geographic Variation In Ascaris Suum, Steven A. Nadler

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Molecular markers have been used only rarely to characterize the population genetic structure of nematodes. Published studies have suggested that different taxa may show distinct genetic architectures. Isoenzyme and RAPD markers have been used to investigate geographic variation of Ascaris suum at the level of infrapopulations (nematodes within individual hosts), within localities, and among geographic regions. Independent estimates of genetic differentiation among population samples based on isoenzyme and RAPD data showed similar patterns and substantial correlation. Heterozygote deficiencies within infrapopulations and large values for inbreeding coefficients among infrapopulations suggested that the composition of these populations was not consistent with a …

Late Fall Transmission Of Nematodirus Battus (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) In Western Oregon, Lora G. Rickard, Eric P. Hoberg, Gary L. Zimmerman, Jannell K. Erno

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Studies on Nematodirus battusCrofton and Thomas, 1951, have shown a marked seasonality in the pattern of transmission. The life cycle normally involves only one parasitic generation per year. The infective third-stage larvae develop over the summer within eggs deposited on pasture. Eggs are sensitized by low temperatures during fall and winter; larval hatching follows in the presence of adequate moisture and proper osmotic conditions as the temperature rises above 10°C. This set of conditions, conducive to hatching, is regularly present only during spring; thus, hatching of eggs is concentrated into a few weeks during this time. Outbreaks of clinical …

The Parasitic Worms Of Man And The Domestic Animals, Henry B. Ward

Studies from the Zoological Laboratory: The University of Nebraska

This article has been written for the general information of those engaged either on a large or on a small scale in stock raising in our own state particularly, and, while not intended to be a complete treatise on the subject, it includes references to those parasites which seem to be the most important or most likely to be found within our borders. The parasites of cattle, sheep, horse, hog, dog, cat, and man, which have many species in common, form the subject of this paper. The parasites of domestic fowl are, however, quite different from those considered here and …

Report Of The Zoologist, Henry B. Ward

Studies from the Zoological Laboratory: The University of Nebraska

In the report of last year was given a full summary of the present state of our knowledge concerning the parasites of man and the domestic animals. It is the intention of the following pages to review the parasitic fauna of the state of Nebraska so far as it is definitely determined, and also to include a list of some species reported but not accurately identified. The second section of this report presents a brief description of some important parasites not included in the group of worms, and hence not mentioned in last year's report. I shall omit all parasites, …