Comparative Parasitology 68(2) 2001 - Peru State College

ange of host species, but most collections, especially
of adults, are from deer and larger carnivores
(Fairchild et al., 1966; Durden and Keirans,
1996). The USNTC includes 5 additional
Costa Rican collections of /. qffinis: 2 from ocelots
(Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758)), and
1 each from a human, a horse, and a long-tailed
weasel (Mustela frenata Lichtenstein, 1831).
Digeneans
Brokx (1984) and Mendez (1984) reported
amphistome digeneans, Cotylophoron sp. and
Paramphistomum cervi (Zeder, 1790), respectively,
in the stomach of O. virginianus. Unfortunately
no voucher specimens exist from those
accounts, so we cannot confirm their identifications.
The only amphistomes we found were P.
liorchis, the species most commonly reported
from O. virginianus in North America (Kennedy
et al., 1985).
Cestodes
Taenia omissa has a broad geographic distribution
in the Western Hemisphere, coinciding
with the range of the cougar, Puma concolor
(Linnaeus, 1771), and deer intermediate hosts
including Odocoileus and Mazama in North and
South America (Rausch, 1981; Rausch et al.,
1983). Consistent with the current study, cysticerci
generally are found in the thoracic cavity,
including the lungs and pericardium (Forrester
and Rausch, 1990). Although cysticerci have
been reported in brocket deer (Mazama cf. gouazoubira
(Fischer, 1814)) from eastern Colombia
(Rausch, 1981), there are apparently no prior records
from Central America. Prevalence and intensity
of infection in deer may be influenced by
differences in population density of cougars
across the range of this parasite—host assemblage
(Forrester and Rausch, 1990).
Nematodes
This is the first record of P. tennis south of
the United States. The presence of elaphostrongyline
nematodes in cervids is a major concern
in the translocation of these animals in wildlife
projects and the game ranching industry (Lankester
and Fong, 1989; Samuel et al., 1992;
Miller and Thorne, 1993; Davidson et al., 1996).
Parelaphostrongylus tennis is of great concern
in future wildlife management and conservation
practices in Central America. An overall decline
of O. virginianus populations in Mexico and
CARRENO ET AL.—DEER PARASITES IN COSTA RICA 181
Central America due to overhunting and habitat
loss (Mendez, 1984) raises the possibility of reintroducing
deer to areas where they have been
extirpated. The effects of P. tennis on the only
other Central American cervid, the brocket deer
(Mazama americana (Erxleben, 1777)), are unknown.
As P. tennis is highly pathogenic in
most cervids other than O. virginianus, it may
also be pathogenic in Mazama spp. Until the
pathogenic significance (if any) of P. tennis to
M. americana has been determined, the translocation
of both it and Central American O. virginianus
may be problematic in areas inhabited
by other cervids that may be susceptible to parelaphostrongylosis.
The translocation of infected O. virginianus
to areas in which P. tennis is absent may result
in the establishment of the parasite in other areas.
The importation of deer from Pennsylvania
to an island off the Georgia coast may have resulted
in the establishment of P. tennis in an area
outside its normal range (Davidson et al., 1996).
Similarly, the translocation of reindeer (Rangifer
tarandus) from Norway to Newfoundland has
led to the establishment of Elaphostrongylus
rangiferi Mitskevitch, 1960, another pathogenic
species, in this region of North America (Lankester
and Fong, 1989). Other cervids such as
red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758) and
moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) may also
harbor Elaphostrongylus species, and North
American elk have been shown to have potential
for surviving infection with and passing larvae
of P. tennis (Samuel et al., 1992). These studies
indicate a need for reliable diagnosis of P. tennis
in ungulates and the need to determine the full
distribution of this parasite. This information can
help to prevent the spread of the parasite to uninfected
host populations. Cervids of western
North America are of particular concern, as P.
tennis has not been recorded in western states
and provinces (Miller and Thorne, 1993).
The presence of P. tennis in Central American
deer is also of evolutionary significance. As yet,
we do not know if M. americana or any of the
South American cervids such as Pudu spp. and
Ozotoceros spp. are hosts for protostrongylids.
Phylogenetic analysis of the family Protostrongylidae
and comparison with host distribution,
however, indicates that cervids are the basal
hosts of these parasites (Carreno and Hoberg,
1999). Discovery of new or already described
protostrongyles in these hosts will contribute
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