Distribution of Metacercariae of Pharyngostomum cordatum in Aichi Prefecture and Pathological Findings on Cats Infected

Abstract

Five species of amphibians, Rana nigromaculata, R.catesbeiana, R.rugosa, Hyla arborea japonica, and Triturus pyrrhogaster pyrrhogaster, and reptilian species, Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus, were collected from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, from June to September, 1979, and examined for parasites.Metacercariae were found in the mesentery and intramuscular connective tissue, and identified as Pharyngostomum cordatum by morphological examination of adult flukes obtained from cats experimentally infected with those metacercariae.In these cats, the epithelium was lost from the sites of the intestine harboring the flukes.