Chabertia ovina		Contents		Rev 02/21/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Chabertia menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Chabertiidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

 Classification

Phylum:  Nematoda
Class:    Chromadorea
Order:    Rhabditida 

Superfamily:  Chabertiatoidea

Family:  Chabertiidae

Chabertia ovina (Fabricius, 1788) Railliet & Henry, 1909

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Morphology and Anatomy:

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Distribution

Cosmopolitan in the colon of sheep, goats, cattle and deer worldwide.

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Economic Importance:

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Hosts:

Sheep, goats, cattle, deer

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Feeding

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Life Cycle:

Infective second stage juveniles ingested through grazing have an extra sheath and a small stoma. Third stage juveniles lose the sheath and enlargement of a buccal capsule Third stage ljuveniles spend an extensive histotropic phase in the wall of the small intestine prior to the third molt. Four weeks may be reqyuired from initial infection until adults are establiched in colon. Fifth stage juveniles in the colon mature as adults and mate.  Eggs are first passed in the faeces 49 days after infection (Herd, 1971).

Live cycle progression of Chabertia ovina in the intestinal tract of sheep.  Days after infection by enshesthed second-stage juveniles. Figure from Herd, 1971

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Damage:

Considerable tissue damage of the intestinal wall may occur during the histotrophic phase of development.

The fully developed buccal capsule of the 5th juvenile stage enables the adult C. ovina to become firmly attached to wall of the large intestine by pressing the buccal capsule against the mucous membrane and exerting a powerful sucking action through repeated expansion of the muscular esophagus. A plug of host tissue is ingested is and predigested by the secretion of the dorsal esophageal gland. (Herd, 1971).

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Management:

Topical and injected formulations of some anthelminthics are effective in cattle (Rehbein et al., 2022).

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References:

Herd R.P., 1971. The parasitic life cycle of Chabertia ooina (Fabric& 1788) in sheep. International Journal for Parasitology, 1:189-199.

Rehbein S., Hamel, D., Yoon, S., Johnson, C. 2022. Efficacy of eprinomectin topical solution and eprinomectin extended-release injection treatments against developing larval and adult Chabertia ovina and Oesophagostomum venulosum - two less common cattle nematode parasites. Veterinary Parasitology 312: 109837 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2022.109837

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