Aelurostrongylus abstrusus

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is a species of nematode from the family Angiostrongylidae.^[1]

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Nematoda
Class:	Chromadorea
Order:	Rhabditida
Family:	Angiostrongylidae
Genus:	Aelurostrongylus
Species:	A. abstrusus
Binomial name
Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Railliet, 1898)

The Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is a cosmopolitan parasite found to be living in the bronchi and alveoli of the lungs of infected cats. Those infected tend to not show many symptoms, if any, as the infection is asymptomatic, leading to shorter lifespans of cats that have been infected. This parasite is typically found in Europe, but also can be found in Africa, Australia, and North and South America.

Hosts

Intermediate hosts include:

• land snail Achatina fulica^[1]
• land snail Thelidomus aspera^[2]
• garden snail Cornu aspersum

Final hosts include:

• cats (family Felidae)^[3]

References

1. Ohlweiler, F. P.; Guimarães, M. C. D. A.; Takahashi, F. Y.; Eduardo, J. M. (2010). "Current distribution of Achatina fulica, in the State of São Paulo including records of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Nematoda) larvae infestation". Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 52 (4): 211–214. doi:10.1590/S0036-46652010000400009. PMID 21748230. PDF.
2. Lindo, J. F.; Waugh, C.; Hall, J.; Cunningham-Myrie, C.; Ashley, D.; Eberhard, M. L.; Sullivan, J. J.; Bishop, H. S.; Robinson, D. G.; Holtz, T.; Robinson, R. D. (2002). "Enzootic Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Rats and Snails after an Outbreak of Human Eosinophilic Meningitis, Jamaica". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 8 (3): 324–326. doi:10.3201/eid0803.010316. PMC 2732477. PMID 11927033.
3. Jefferies, R.; Vrhovec, M. G.; Wallner, N.; Catalan, D. R. (2010). "Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus sp. (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) infections in cats inhabiting Ibiza, Spain". Veterinary Parasitology. 173 (3–4): 344–348. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.06.032. PMID 20674179.

4. Studzińska, M. B., Demkowska-Kutrzepa, M., Komsta, R., Tomczuk, K., Kruczek, A., Junkuszew, A., & Dudko, P. (2017). Aelurostrongylus abstrusus - The Cause of Respiratory Disease. Medycyna Weterynaryjna, 73(11), 739–742. https://doi.org/10.21521/mw.5793

5. Morelli, S., Colombo, M., Diakou, A., Traversa, D., Grillini, M., Frangipane di Regalbono, A., & Di Cesare, A. (2021). The Influence of Temperature on the Larval Development of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in the Land Snail Cornu aspersum. Pathogens, 10(8), 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10080960

Further reading

• Ash, L. R. (1970). "Diagnostic morphology of the third-stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Angiostrongylus vasorum, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, and Anafilaroides rostratus (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea)". The Journal of Parasitology. 56 (2): 249–253. doi:10.2307/3277651. JSTOR 3277651. PMID 5445821.