Clinical presentation
The majority of human infections are asymptomatic or associated with mild symptoms. Symptomatic individuals may experience abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, flatulence, dizziness, generalized fatigue, and malaise. Eosinophilia is frequently observed. Infections with a heavy worm burden can lead to anemia, cholecystitis, and emaciation. Regarding Trichostrongylus retortaeformis, worm burden is affected parallel to host immune system and climate change. Although immunity prevents any significant long-term net accumulation of T. retortaeformis in the rabbit population, its seasonal effect is to increase heterogeneity in infection and transmission between individuals by worsening the parasite burden in the juveniles exposed to climate warming. Diagnosis
The adult worms live in the small intestine. The diagnosis is based on the observation of eggs in the stool. The eggs are 85–115 um, oval, elongated, and pointed at one or both ends. Trichostrongylus eggs must be differentiated from hookworm eggs, which are smaller and do not have pointed ends. Prevention and treatment
Since the use of herbivore manure as fertilizer is a common practice preceding infection, thorough cleaning and cooking of vegetables is required for prevention of infection. Treatment with pyrantel pamoate is recommended as the first line drug. Alternative agents include mebendazole and albendazole. Successful treatment with ivermectin has also been reported. Another way of avoiding these free-swimming stages of infective larvae, is to wear protective footwear when walking in areas of parasite prominence, and maintain general sanitary practices throughout the day.
Species
Species:
Trichostrongylus affinis
Trichostrongylus andreevi Grigorian, 1952
Trichostrongylus askivali Dunn, 1964
Trichostrongylus axei (Cobbold, 1879)
Trichostrongylus brevis Otsuru, 1962
Trichostrongylus calcaratus Ransom, 1911
Trichostrongylus capricola Ransom, 1907
Trichostrongylus colubriformis (Giles, 1892)
Trichostrongylus duretteae Rossin, Timi & Malizia, 2006
Trichostrongylus lerouxi Biocca, Chabaud & Ghadirian, 1974
Trichostrongylus longispicularis Gordon, 1933
Trichostrongylus medius Oliger, 1950
Trichostrongylus ostertagiaeformis Kadenazii, 1957
Trichostrongylus pietersei Le Roux, 1932
Trichostrongylus probolurus (Railliet, 1896)
Trichostrongylus retortaeformis (Zeder, 1800)
Trichostrongylus sigmodontis
Trichostrongylus skrjabini Kalantarian, 1928
Trichostrongylus suis Iwanitzki, 1930
Trichostrongylus tenuis (Mehlis, 1846)
Trichostrongylus ventricosus (Rudolphi, 1809)
Trichostrongylus vitrinus Looss, 1905


== References ==