Abdominal angiostrongyliasis in the Americas: fifty years since the discovery of a new metastrongylid species, Angiostrongylus costaricensis.
Angiostrongylus costaricensis is a zoonotic parasitic nematode described for the first time in 1971 by Pedro Morera and Rodolfo Céspedes in Costa Rica. This parasite causes an infection known as abdominal angiostrongyliasis, affecting mainly school-aged children and young adults. Infection with A. costaricensis has been associated with a myriad of rodent and mollusk species in the Americas and the Caribbean, as its natural hosts and reservoirs. In this commemorative review, we highlight the extensive research collected through a 50-year journey, which includes ecological, pathological, and molecular studies on A. costaricensis and its implicated disease. We also identify major knowledge gaps in its evolutionary history, the ecological role of imported and invasive mollusk species, and immune response. We propose that the advent of -omics analyses will allow us to gather novel information regarding A. costaricensis biology and infection dynamics, as well as to promote the design of much-needed sensitive and specific diagnostic tools.
['Rojas|Alicia|A|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2007-7198', 'Maldonado-Junior|Arnaldo|A|', 'Mora|Javier|J|', 'Morassutti|Alessandra|A|', 'Rodriguez|Rubens|R|', 'Solano-Barquero|Alberto|A|', 'Tijerino|Anamariela|A|', 'Vargas|Marianela|M|', 'Graeff-Teixeira|Carlos|C|']
D000569:Americas D000801:Angiostrongylus D000818:Animals D017691:Caribbean Region D004197:Disease Reservoirs D058507:Host Specificity D006801:Humans D007109:Immunity D058865:Introduced Species D007814:Larva D008018:Life Cycle Stages D008974:Mollusca D012376:Rodent Diseases D012377:Rodentia D017206:Strongylida Infections D015047:Zoonoses
Abdominal angiostrongyliasis Angiostrongylus costaricensis Eosinophilic enteritis Helminthiasis Zoonosis