Increased establishment of lungworms after exposure to a combined infection of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora

doi:10.1016/0304-4017(90)90099-W

Veterinary Parasitology

Volume 36, Issues 1–2, May 1990, Pages 117-122

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4017(90)90099-W Get rights and content

Abstract

Three-month-old calves were infected three times weekly during a 5-week period with Cooperia oncophora, Ostertagia ostertagi or a combination of these two species. For each type of infection two dose levels were applied. In addition one group of calves was kept uninfected. After removal of the primary infection by anthelmintic treatment all calves were challenged with lungworm larvae and slaughtered 5 weeks later. The groups receiving either C. oncophora or O. ostertagi as a monospecific infection did not differ from the naïve controls. The group receiving the combination of both species differed significantly from the other groups, the establishment of the lungworms being 177%, and the faecal excretion of larvae being 325% of that of the other groups.

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Interactions between lungworms and gastrointestinal worms in calves
Vet. Parasitol.
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A. Kloosterman et al.
Increased establishment of lungworms (Dictyocaulus viviparus) in calves after previous infections with gastrointestinal nematodes (Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora)
Vet. Parasitol.
(1989)

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Cited by (14)

Gastrointestinal nematode species diversity in Soay sheep kept in a natural environment without active parasite control
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Citation Excerpt :
Similar interactions driven by differential early stage larval challenge and the onset of protective immunity have been reported between T. colubriformis and Nematodirus spathiger (Dineen et al., 1977), H. contortus and T. axei (Reinecke et al., 1980), T. axei and T. circumcincta (Reinecke et al., 1982), and in cattle between Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora (Bairden et al., 1992). Not all such interactions operate to the detriment of the species involved, for example severity of N. battus infections may be increased by prior or simultaneous infection with coccidian protozoa (Christensen et al., 1987; Catchpole and Harris, 1989), or the establishment of Dictyocaulus viviparus may be enhanced by prior infections with O. ostertagi and C. oncophora (Kloosterman et al., 1990). Thus, regulatory influences of the large number of nematode parasite species on each other in the study Soay sheep flock could have contributed to the less clear pattern of sequential variation in predominance of individual species than is seen in intensively managed flocks.
Molecular methods based on ITS2 sequence analysis were used to identify strongylid parasites and describe their diversity in a management intervention and anthelmintic drug treatment-free sheep flock. Fourteen different nematode parasite species were identified in the flock and the results showed a greater level of nematode species diversity than is normally reported in managed farmed flocks, with the presence of parasites such as Bunostomum trigonocephalum, Ostertagia leptospicularis, Spiculopteragia houdemeri and Trichostrongylus retortaeformis that are considered to be absent or rare in sheep kept in comparable localities. The implied prevalences of Haemonchus contortus in lambs, and of Trichostrongylus axei in lambs, ewes and rams, were higher than those in farmed sheep kept in similar regions, while those of Teladorsagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus vitrinus were lower. Comparison of the patterns of nematode parasite infection between the summer and autumn sampling periods showed differences from the scenarios that are commonplace in comparable managed flocks; with T. vitrinus burdens of the lambs being higher in the summer than in the winter, and Oesophagostomum venulosum being the predominant nematode species in the adult sheep during the summer, while more-or-less absent from these groups during the winter. Rams played an important role in the epidemiology of certain parasitic nematode species. The relatively non-pathogenic O. venulosum was the only parasitic nematode species to predominate in any group during the study. This preliminary characterisation of the nematode parasite burdens of sheep extensively grazed on diverse unimproved pastures will aid in the understanding of the parasitological consequences of intensive grazing management and of the manner in which modern agriculture upsets the equilibrium between parasites and their hosts. These factors must be accounted for when defining the concept of sustainable parasite control and informing sustainability with reference to commercially efficient sheep farming.
Protostrongylid infection in meat sheep from Northwestern Spain: Prevalence and risk factors
2011, Veterinary Parasitology
Citation Excerpt :
Taking into consideration that both lungworms have different transmission routes it is possible that positive interactions were immunologically mediated so that the presence of one species could facilitate the subsequent establishment of the other. Kloosterman et al. (1989, 1990) found positive interactions between lungworms in calves after previous infections with gastrointestinal nematodes and French et al. (2009) have detected that D. filaria infection generates similar immune response in ovine than Teladorsagia circumcincta infection in abomasal mucosa, so Dictyocaulus infection could provoke a lowered immunity response as described Kloosterman et al. (1989) for gastrointestinal nematodes that could facilitate sheep protostrongylid infection. However, further studies are necessary to elucidate this aspect.
2093 Faecal samples from 74 commercial meat ovine flocks were collected and examined by the Baermann–Wetzel method for protostrongylid infection. The risk of being infected by lungworms was evaluated with a data mining classification tree (CHAID), and the intensity of infection with a general linear model (GLM). 242 out of 2093 faecal samples examined were positive for protostrongylid infection (11.6%; 95% CI 10.2–12.9). Only two species were found, Muellerius capillaris (97.9%) and Neostrongylus linearis (5.4%). 50 out of 74 farms presented at least one animal shedding protostrongylid larvae in faeces. All of them held animals infected by M. capillaris and seven presented mixed infections with N. linearis. Average larval output in infected sheep was 11.9 (SD 30.91). This study showed that protostrongylid prevalence in sheep for meat production was determined mainly by a positive interaction with Dictyocaulus filaria infection; other factors that have influenced over protostrongylid infection were age, introducing external animals in the flocks, mixed management with goats and animal density in pastures. Treatment effects on prevalence were only observed in flocks that did not introduce ewes. The lowest protostrongylid prevalence has been reported in flocks without D. filaria infection and without contact with goats.
Heterogenous interspecific interactions in a host-parasite system
2006, International Journal for Parasitology
Macroparasites of vertebrates usually occur in multi-species communities, producing infections whose outcome in individual hosts or host populations may depend on the dynamics of interactions amongst the different component species. Within a single co-infection, competition can occur between conspecific and heterospecific parasite individuals, either directly or via the host’s physiological and immune responses. We studied a natural single-host, multi-parasite model infection system (polystomes in the anuran Xenopus laevis victorianus) in which the parasite species show total interspecific competitive exclusion as adults in host individuals. Multi-species infection experiments indicated that competitive outcomes were dependent on infection species composition and strongly influenced by the intraspecific genetic identity of the interacting organisms. Our results also demonstrate the special importance of temporal heterogeneity (the sequence of infection by different species) in competition and co-existence between parasite species and predict that developmental plasticity in inferior competitors, and the induction of species-specific host resistance, will partition the within-host-individual habitat over time. We emphasise that such local (within-host) context-dependent processes are likely to be a fundamental determinant of population dynamics in multi-species parasite assemblages.
The efficacy of two isolates of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans against Dictyocaulus viviparus larvae in faeces
1999, Veterinary Parasitology
A series of experiments was carried out to examine the effects of two different isolates of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans to reduce the number of free-living larvae of the bovine lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparus. A laboratory dose-titration assay showed that isolates CI3 and Troll A of D. flagrans significantly reduced (P < 0.05 to P < 0.001) the number of infective D. viviparus larvae in cultures at dose-levels of 6250 and 12,500 chlamydospores/g of faeces. The larval reduction capacity was significantly higher for Troll A compared to CI3 when lungworm larvae were mixed in faecal cultures with eggs of Cooperia oncophora or Ostertagia ostertagi and treated with 6250 chlamydospores/g of faeces. Both fungal isolates showed a stronger effect on gastrointestinal larvae than on lungworm larvae. Two plot trials conducted in 1996 and 1997 involved deposition of artificial faecal pats containing free-living stages of D. viviparus and C. oncophora on grass plots. Herbage around the pats was collected at regular intervals and infective larvae recovered, counted and identified. These experiments showed that both D. flagrans isolates reduced the number of gastrointestinal as well as lungworm larvae in faecal pats. During both plot trials, the transmission of C. oncophora larvae, but not D. viviparus, from faecal pats to the surrounding herbage was clearly affected by climatic conditions. After collection of faecal pats from the grass plots one month after deposition, the wet and dry weight of pats as well as organic matter content were determined. No differences were found between the fungus-treated and non-treated control pats. This indicated that the rate of degradation of faeces was not affected by the addition of the fungus.
The effect of experimental trichostrongyle infections of housed young calves on the subsequent course of natural infection on pasture
1993, International Journal for Parasitology
Nansen P., Steffan P. E., Christensen C. M., Gasbarre L. C., Monrad J., Gronvold J. and Henriksen S. AA. 1993. The effect of experimental trichostrongyle infections of housed young calves on the subsequent course of natural infection on pasture. International Journal for Parasitology23: 627–638. The present studies were designed to investigate whether experimental, mixed trichostrongyle infections of stabled calves prior to their first grazing season could confer sufficient immunity to significantly reduce egg excretion after turnout, and thereby prevent loss-producing infections later on. The study comprised four groups, each of seven calves. During spring, two of the groups received two different dose levels of infective larvae twice weekly, and one group received larger larval doses at monthly intervals. One group served as non-experimentally exposed controls. In May all groups grazed separately on similarly contaminated plots. All experimental groups had reduced egg counts, and herbage infectivity of their plots was significantly lower than that of the controls. These findings were reflected in serum pepsinogen levels and in specific serum antibody responses. Additionally, clinical disease was only observed in the control group animals.
Understanding chronic nematode infections: Evolutionary considerations, current hypotheses and the way forward
1992, International Journal for Parasitology

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Veterinary Parasitology

Abstract

References (5)

Interactions between lungworms and gastrointestinal worms in calves

Vet. Parasitol.

Increased establishment of lungworms (Dictyocaulus viviparus) in calves after previous infections with gastrointestinal nematodes (Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora)

Vet. Parasitol.

Cited by (14)

Gastrointestinal nematode species diversity in Soay sheep kept in a natural environment without active parasite control

Protostrongylid infection in meat sheep from Northwestern Spain: Prevalence and risk factors

Heterogenous interspecific interactions in a host-parasite system

The efficacy of two isolates of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans against Dictyocaulus viviparus larvae in faeces

The effect of experimental trichostrongyle infections of housed young calves on the subsequent course of natural infection on pasture

Understanding chronic nematode infections: Evolutionary considerations, current hypotheses and the way forward