On the Pathogenic Role of Larvae and Mature Stages of Bunostomum trigonocephalum (Nematoda: Ancylostomatidae)

Abstract

The authors have followed up experimentally the migration of the larvae of Bunostomum trigonocephalum through uninjured skin of an ovine host. 

Studies were conducted on the duration of the prepatent and patent period of B. trigonocephalum infection.

The larvae are comparatively quick in penetrating the uninjured skin of the host. Five minutes after their infestation they were present under the epidermis and caused significant traumatic changes in the skin. Ten minutes later the larvae were present in the derma layer. After two days the larvae were situated in the host lungs and caused damage of the alveoli. The mature stages of B. trigonocephalum are localized primarily in the jejunum, where nematodes attach themselves to the intestinal mucosa and damage it during blood feeding.