Helminths make themselves at home

Drurey et al. (2021. J. Exp. Med.https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20211140) show that excretory/secretory products from the parasitic helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus suppress the host-protective small intestinal epithelial response. These findings establish that helminths directly modulate the tissue in which they live, shining new light on the host–parasite interaction.

Parasitic helminth infection in anurans from Ozomo Wetland, Edo State, Nigeria

Anurans from Ozomo Wetland were examined for parasitic helminth infection. Among these anurans were Arthroleptis poecilonotus, Arthroleptis sp., Leptopelis occidentalis, L. spiritusnoctus, Sclerophrys maculata, Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, Hyperolius concolor, H. fusciventris burtoni Phase B, Hyperolius sp., Afrixalus dorsalis, Ptychadena bibroni, P. longirostris, P. mascareniensis, P. oxyrhynchus, P. pumilio, Hemisus marmoratus and Silurana tropicalis. The prevalence and intensity of infection recorded in the anurans were 58.2% and 9.5 parasites/infected host, respectively. Eighteen parasite species were recovered and these include the monogeneans (Polystoma aeschilimanni, P. prudhoei and P. prucei); digeneans (Diplodiscus fischthalicus, Metahaematoloechus micrurus and Mesocoelium monodi) and nematodes (Amplicaecum sp., Aplectana sp., Batrachocamallanus siluranae, Camallanus dimitrovi, Chabaudus leberrei, Cosmocerca commutata, C. ornata, Physaloptera sp., Rhabdias africanus, Rhabdias sp., an unidentified nematode and an unidentified oxyurid nematode). These parasites were recovered from different microhabitats (oesophagus/stomach, small intestine, large intestine/rectum lungs and urinary bladder) in the anuran hosts. Nematode was the dominant parasite with 66.7% infection while the monogeneans and digeneans had 16.7% infection each. Metahaematoloechus micrurus recorded in this study had unusually large testes which have not been observed in other specimens recorded elsewhere and there is need for further investigation. Keywords: anurans, species, farming, logging, deforestation, digeneans, nematodes, prevalence, intensity, Nigeria