Dynamics of faecal egg counts in rabbits experimentally infected with Strongyloides papillosus

An experiment using rabbits was carried out to determine basic data to maintain the calf strain of Strongyloides papillosus (SPL). Rabbits treated with four different numbers of doses of dexamethasone were exposed to 50,000 or about 100,000 infective larvae of SPL (Himeji strain, 1988). As a result, faecal egg output was valid in individual rabbits, regardless of dexamethasone administration. Eggs appeared in the faeces 9 or 10 days after exposure, and increased to as much as 20,000-573,000 eggs per gram (EPG). Thirteen of 18 rabbits died (72%) 12-29 days after infection. Five surviving rabbits discharged eggs in their faeces for more than 1 month; however, the EPG value of these cases on the last day was comparatively low.