Abdominal angiostrongyliasis in the Americas: fifty years since the discovery of a new metastrongylid species, Angiostrongylus costaricensis.

ABSTRACT: Angiostrongylus costaricensis is a zoonotic parasitic nematode described for the first time in 1971 by Pedro Morera and Rodolfo Céspedes in Costa Rica. This parasite causes an infection known as abdominal angiostrongyliasis, affecting mainly school-aged children and young adults. Infection with A. costaricensis has been associated with a myriad of rodent and mollusk species in the Americas and the Caribbean, as its natural hosts and reservoirs. In this commemorative review, we highlight the extensive research collected through a 50-year journey, which includes ecological, pathological, and molecular studies on A. costaricensis and its implicated disease. We also identify major knowledge gaps in its evolutionary history, the ecological role of imported and invasive mollusk species, and immu

SUBMITTER: Rojas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8296644 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature