The life-cycle of Spirometra species from Peninsular Malaysia

The life-cycle of Malaysian Spirometra spp. was studied under experimental conditions in the laboratory. The Cyclops were reared as the first intermediate host, the hamster as the experimental second intermediate host and cat as the definitive host. Maturation and hatching of eggs took 6 to 12 days by incubation at temperature 30 ºC. The hatched coracidium measured 46 x 34 μm. The Cyclops used were susceptible to the coracidial infection. The procercoid older than 5 days in the Cyclop body cavity had minute spines at the anterior end, calcium corpuscles in the body parenchyma and the cercomer at the posterior end. Procercoids 10 to 14 days old were infective to hamster. The plerocercoids from the hamster after 30 days were long and slender and were infective to cats. The plerocercoids experimentally inoculated to cats developed to adult worms and began to produce eggs between 10 to 60 days. Based on the results that have been obtained, a complete life-cycle was successfully elucidated in the laboratory and hamster was identified to be a good laboratory model for a second intermediate host of Spirometra sp.