Paper: Laboratory studies on filariasis in the cotton-rat

Abstract

Cotton-rat filariasis (Litomosoides carinii) can readily be transmitted through the mite Bdellonyssus bacoti, thus affording a complete life cycle excellent for laboratory studies. Super-infection may occur under conditions of continued exposure, but the number of worms found is usually low. Super-infected rats are often sub-normal in wt. The pleural cavity of the rat is the normal habitat of the worms although some few may enter the peritoneal cavity under the pressure of heavy primary infections or in cases of super-infection. Some type of tissue reaction seems to reduce the number of microfilariae in the blood under such conditions. It is suggested that there may be similar primary and secondary sites of development in human filariasis, and some of the variable results recorded by different observers may be due to such conditions.