A Study on the Relation of the Chicken to the Spread of Swine Lungworm Disease

가계(家鷄)와 돈폐충증(豚肺蟲症)의 전파(傳播)와의 관계(關係)에 대(對)한 연구(硏究)

This experiment was undertaken in order to investigate whether chicken can serve as a carrier for swine lungworm, Metastrongylus apri. The results abtained are summerized as follows: All chickens which were fed the infective larvae of M. apri, in the form of infected earthworm (Eisenia foctida) excreted appreximately 4.4 to 5.4 percent of the infective larvae in their feces between 2 to 10 hours after dosing. The larval excretion was marked especially during the first 2 hours. A few (0.10~0.12%) larvae were detected from the intestinal wall of chickens by pepsin-digestion method on a day after dosing, but no further migration or development of the larvae was observed. The larvae which had passed through the digestive tract of chickens retained their viability and produced characteristic lungworm disease when inoculated to guineapigs. From these results, it may he concluded that the chicken can serve as a carrier for the infective larvae of M. apri.