Journal
VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY
Volume 90, Issue 3, Pages 221-230Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-4017(00)00240-5
Keywords
abomasum; wild ruminants; sheep-nematoda; host specificity; alpine environment
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Abomasums from 641 alpine wild ruminants representing five different species (Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capueolus, Rupicapra rupicapra, Capra ibex, Ovis musimon) and from 19 domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from alpine areas were examined in order to investigate the host-specificity of abomasal helminths. Nine out of 20 helminth species were found in at least five different host species. A discriminant analysis was able to significantly discriminate the hosts on the basis of their helminth community composition with the exception of O. musimon and O. aries. Based on the correlation between each variable represented by helminth species with the most explanatory discriminant axis, it was possible to classify helminths into specialists and generalists. Specialists are represented by the dominant species in a community of an host species or family while generalists appear in the communities of many different hosts as intermediate species. Due to the pathogenic potential of some of these generalist species (i.e. Haemonchus contortus, Trichostuongylus axel) and their ability to adapt easily to the conditions found in several different hosts, they appear to be the most important from a sanitary point of view. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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