بررسي ميزان آلودگي به نوچه لينگواتولاسراتا در گوسفندان ذبح‌شده در كشتارگاه شهرستان ياسوج‌

A survey of infection of Linguatula serrata nymphs in slaughtered

Linguatula serrata, the ʹtongue-worm" is a zoonotic parasite that occurs in nasal and respiratory passages of dog and some other carnivores. Herbivores such as sheep, goat,., are suitable intermediate hosts. This survey was carried out on 139 sheep slaughtered at Yasuj abattoir from October to December 2005. Mesenteric and hepatic lymph nodes (MLNs & HLNs) of 139 sheep were examined for Linguatula serrata under a stereomicroscope. Before examination, lymph node samples were randomely collected, torn to pieces and/or digested by acid-pepsin solution. Nymphal stages of L. serrata were found in the mesenteric and hepatic lymph nodes (65 out of 139=46.76%) and (8 out of 139 =5.75%) from the sheep respectively. The number of nymphs collected from MLNs and HLNs of each infected animal varied from 1 to 163 (mean, 18.73+32.31) and 1 to 4 respectively. Mean lengths of the nymphal stages were 4.9+0.5 mm with a range of 2-6 mm. Study of Linguatula serrata infection in dogs (definitive hosts) from the aerea will be useful for control maesurments of the infection.