The rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a zoonotic metastrongyloid nematode, currently considered an emerging pathogen approaching Europe. In tropics and subtropics, it is an important food-borne neurotropic parasite of medical and veterinary importance. Sources of infection for mammals and birds include gastropod intermediate hosts and poikilothermic vertebrates (paratenic hosts). To evaluate the relevance of reptiles in the rat lungworm circulation, we performed an experimental series focused on long-term survival of third stage larvae (L3) of A. cantonensis in reptiles and potential of saurians to serve as a source of infection for further hosts. Twenty leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) were infected with varying doses of L3 (100, 1000, 10 000 larvae per animal). Live L3 were collected from all infected geckos (mostly in musculature and liver) euthanized 1-6 months after the infection and were proven to be infective for Wistar rats (definitive hosts). Three sacrificed geckos were subsequently fed to three corn snakes (Pantheropis guttatus) to test hypothesis of L3 infectivity for predators positioned higher in the food chain. Snakes were euthanized 1 month post-infection and live L3 were detected predominantly in the intestinal wall. The animals remained clinically healthy throughout the study. No reptiles showed significant changes in haematological and biochemical blood parameters, though elevated CK and GLDH were observed in most geckos in the group receiving higher infectious dose. This study highlights the significant potential of reptiles to play a crucial role in the circulation of metastrongyloid nematodes in food web and in their transmission to humans.

3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Clinical and Transplant Pathology Centre Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Department of Botany and Zoology Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Comparative Pathobiology College of Veterinary Medicine Purdue University Lafayette IN USA

Department of Pathology and Parasitology University of Veterinary Sciences Brno Brno Czech Republic

Department of Veterinary Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Parasitology Biology Center of Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

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In the eastern Mediterranean, the rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis is absent or extremely rare according to recent surveys