The experimental infection of guinea pigs with the tissue worm of deer — Elaphostrongylus cervi

Abstract

Infection of six guinea pigs with up to 100 third-stage larvae of Elaphostrongylus cervi produced clinical signs of severe weight loss and ataxia or death in five. These signs occurred approximately eighty days after the larvae had been given per os. Single female E. cervi sub-adults were recovered from four affected animals and both a male and female E. cervi from one animal. Individual worms were found at the base of the brain against the internal surface of the dura mater. Histological and haematological parameters differed significantly between infected and control animals.