Moniliformis moniliformis

Moniliformis moniliformis

Moniliformis moniliformis is a kind of scratch worms ( Acanthocephala ), who lives as intestinal parasite, especially in rodents and other small mammals, and these triggers according to a Acanthocephalose. In addition, he is a potential intestinal parasite of humans and many other mammals.

Features

The females reach a body length of up to 27 centimeters, the males remain significantly smaller with a maximum of about 4.5 centimeters. The width of the animals is from about one to 1.5 millimeters. The animals have a highly segmented appears from the outside, almost perlschnurartigen hull, but a true segmentation is not available. The trunk ( proboscis ) is club-shaped and has from 12 to 14 is not strictly arranged hook rows, each seven to eight hooks, the hooks on the proboscis base are particularly small. The two-layered proboscis sheath and the filiform Leminiski are formed only relatively short.

The females have like all Archiacanthocephala a dorsal and a ventral ligament bag in Pseudocoel whose walls do not melt in contrast to those of Palaeacanthocephala, also the giant scratches have protonephridia. The males have six to eight testes in the body of animals.

The eggs are oval and have only thin envelope membranes. They have an average length of 67 and an average width of 32 microns.

Dissemination

Moniliformis moniliformis is widespread as its hosts worldwide. Even Human infections have been reported from all continents.

Way of life

Moniliformis moniliformis living as a full-grown animal as intestinal parasite, especially in the intestines of small mammals, particularly rodents such as rats, mice, dormice and other Bilchen or hamsters, but can also predators such as cats, dogs and martens, insectivores such as hedgehogs and moles and in very rare cases, humans and other primates are infected.

The eggs get on with the feces of the host animals and in the soil, where they are taken up mainly of cockroaches that serve as intermediate hosts. In them the development of Acanthella and the Cystacanthus stage in which the larvae are in turn taken from their definitive hosts as food takes place. In the intestine the Scratch drilled with the help of the hook- reinforced trunk in the muscle tissue of the small intestine, the tunica muscularis, and gets stuck there.

Relevance as a human parasite

As a parasite to humans Moniliformis comes to moniliformis only a very minor role. The human being is basically definitive host in question, the infection is, however, extremely unlikely and therefore very rare. The normal way to be infected with the Cystacanthus is the consumption of the intermediate host. From Iran, the case of a small child in 2007, for example, known that became infected after it had taken dirt and a cockroach in his mouth.