| Abstract: | Summary: The aim of the present study was to confirm observations on the vertical transmissionof Schistosoma japonicum in the rabbit. S. japonicum-infected pregnant rabbits were used in thisstudy. Perfusion of mother rabbits was done 9 weeks after infection in order to obtain worm bur-dens in relation to their initial cercarial dose. Anti-schistosoma specific IgM antibodies in serumsamples collected from rabbit kittens were detected by ELISA. Our results showed that gestationperiod lasted the normal 29-31 days. All the exposed mother rabbits became infected with S.japonicum. Positive IgM antibody OD values were detected in 12 out of the 60 kittens examined(20.0 %). In group C and A, 40. 0 % and 17.9 % of the kitten were congenitally infected, re-spectively. 18. i % of the kittens born to mothers infected with a single dose of 200 cercariae perrabbit were positives; this is not significantly different from that obtained for the 600 dose group(22.2 %). Three randomly selected IgM+ kittens harbored between one and two adult worms.The livers of these kittens displayed granulomatous lesions. It is concluded that congenital S.japonicum infection does occur in the rabbit and is affected by the mother stage of pregnancy andto a lesser extent by its infection load. |
