Fellow parasitologists,
I am in the process of completing my thesis and require some citations
which show that parasites have the capacity to outlive their hosts, if
they are surgically removed and placed into a new host. So far, the
only citation I've found concerns a Hymenolepis diminuta tapeworm
which was kept alive for 14 years (13 successive transplants into new
hosts). The paper is by Read, CP, 1967, J. Parasitol 53:1055.
I am most interested in finding other papers which demonstrate extreme
parasite longevity. I have heard of a case where a Shistosoma mansoni
pair was taken from an autopsied man in America who had not been back
to Africa in 30 years, suggesting the worms had resided within the man
the entire time. Anyone know of this paper?
The idea is that in nature, parasites rarely live longer than their
longest lived hosts (simply do to the mechanical difficulties of an
ADULT endoparasite to find its way into another host), but that they
often are programmed with the capacity to out live their hosts. Any
ideas? This is a mere portion of my thesis which stems from work done
by Peter Calow (1983) who demonstrates how parasites combine
characteristics that would normally be considered contra to the r- &
K- paradigm.
Your ideas are greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
-- Kimo
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A. Kimo Morris |
Department of Entomology | Office - (541)737-2453
Oregon State University | FAX - (541)737-3643
Cordley Hall 2046 | Internet - morrisk at bcc.orst.edu
Corvallis,OR 97331-2907,USA | http://www.orst.edu/~morriaar
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"I hope that some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays
its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're
having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching" -- Jack Handy
