ON A NEW LUNG FLUKE, PARAGONIMUS BANGKOKENSIS sp. nov. IN THAILAND (TRAMATODA: TROGLOTREMATIDAE)

Abstract

Paragonimus bangkokensis sp. nov. was found in Sarika village, Nakorn-nayok province, Central Thailand, known as an endemic area of human paragonimiasis and situated about 90 km from Bangkok. The metacercariae were abundant in the liver and muscle of a crab, Potamon smithianus Rathbun, and matured experimentally in a cat and a bandicoot, Bandicota indica (Bechstein) . In addition, adults of the new species were found in the lungs of two out of five small Indian mongooses, Herpestes javanicus Geoff roy captured in the same locality. As the crab host is frequently eaten uncooked by inhabitants of the area, there is a possibili y of human infection by the new fluke.