Species composition of gastrointestinal nematodes of moose (Alces alces) in European Russia

Kuznetsov D.N., Romashova N.B., Romashov B.V.

P. 162-168

The species of gastrointestinal nematodes found during necropsies of 26 moose from four regions of European Russia (Tver’, Smolensk, Ryazan’ and Voronezh) were determined. In total, eight species of nematodes were registered: Aonchotheca bovis, Ashworthius sidemi, Mazamastrongylus dagestanica, Nematodirella alcidis, Ostertagia antipini, Spiculopteragia asymmetrica, Trichostrongylus capricola and Trichuris ovis. Beside this, a minor morph of O. antipini (“Ostertagia lyrataeformis”) was found in seven moose from all of the studied regions. Ashworthius sidemi, a blood-sucking nematode, was found in moose in Voronezh region, and this fact indicates the further spreading of this Asian parasite among ruminants in Europe. Apparently, the reason for the relatively low species diversity of nematodes noted in this study is the small number of contacts of moose with other ruminants in the study areas. The intensity of infection was also relatively low and ranged from 87 to 1660 nematodes. The extensity of infection ranged from 3.8% for Aonchotheca bovis to 100% for Mazamastrongylus dagestanica. No nematode species more typical for domestic ruminants was found, which indicates the absence of contacts between the studied moose and livestock.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.21.2.07

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