Infecção experimental de Tilápia-do-nilo (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus 1757) por Toxocara canis

Abstract

The toxocariasis is a disease of worldwide distribution, caused by nematodes Toxocara canis and T. cati, parasites whose definitive hosts are dogs and cats, respectively. These agents can also infect humans, and their larvae can migrate through the body, causing the syndrome of visceral larva migrans (visceral toxocariasis) or ocular (ocular toxocariasis). Consumption of raw or undercooked meat of animals such as ruminants and poultry has been considered as one of the routes of transmission of the disease to humans. Evaluation of the migration of larvae Toxocara spp. in fish is scarce in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of Toxocara canis to infect and migrate through the tissues of experimentally infected fish. Forty-nine Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Linnaeus 1757) were evaluated. Two groups were formed for the assessment of infection. Group I consisted of 35 animals infected by oral gavage with 1,000 T. canis-embryonated eggs (IG). The second group contained 14 animals that received 1.0 ml PBS by oral gavage and served as a control group (CG). To recover the larvae, 5 animals from IG and two animals from CG were euthanised at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 days post-infection. Samples of the liver, brain, gills, muscle and intestinal content were collected and subjected to acid digestion and the modified Baermann method. There were no T. canis larvae detected at any time point during this experiment, but embryonated eggs were found in the intestinal contents. Our findings suggest that tilapia could serve as a disseminating vehicle of Toxocara spp. in aquatic environments.