{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T05:58:05Z","timestamp":1790402285197,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]],"date-time":"2021-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622678400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]],"date-time":"2021-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622678400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sci Rep"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> spp. are parasitic nematodes that infect numerous species of mammals and reptiles. The life cycles of <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> species are complex, and unknowns remain regarding the role of paratenic and transport hosts in transmission to definitive hosts. We had two primary objectives: to assess the susceptibility of several species of anurans, lizards, and fish as paratenic hosts for <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> species, and to determine the long-term persistence of <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> infections in African clawed frogs (<jats:italic>Xenopus laevis<\/jats:italic>). Animals were orally exposed to copepods infected with infectious third-stage larvae (L3s) of either <jats:italic>Dracunculus insignis<\/jats:italic> or <jats:italic>D. medinensis<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> L3s were recovered from four anuran species, two lizard species, and one fish species, demonstrating that <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> can infect tissues of a diversity of species. In long-term persistence trials, <jats:italic>D. medinensis<\/jats:italic> L3s were recovered from African clawed frogs tissues up to 58\u00a0days post-infection, and <jats:italic>D. insignis<\/jats:italic> L3s were recovered up to 244\u00a0days post-infection. Our findings regarding the susceptibility of novel species of frogs, lizards, and fish to infection with <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> nematodes, and long-term persistence of L3s in paratenic hosts, address pressing knowledge gaps regarding <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> infection in paratenic hosts and may guide future research regarding the transmission of <jats:italic>Dracunculus<\/jats:italic> to definitive mammalian hosts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-91122-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]],"date-time":"2021-06-03T10:14:48Z","timestamp":1622715288000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Susceptibility of anurans, lizards, and fish to infection with Dracunculus species larvae and implications for their roles as paratenic hosts"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Erin K.","family":"Box","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael J.","family":"Yabsley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kayla B.","family":"Garrett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alec T.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seth T.","family":"Wyckoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher A.","family":"Cleveland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"91122_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cleveland, C. 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