{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:29:14Z","timestamp":1786408154048,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780617600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":67,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006595","name":"Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["131PED"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["131PED"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006595","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Parasites Vectors"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Mammomonogamus ierei<\/jats:italic>\n                      is a nasal nematode of domestic cats, for which the life cycle and route of infection have remained unknown. Experimental oral infections have historically failed, leading to speculation regarding the involvement of an intermediate host and uncertainty about transmission pathways. The aim of this study was to determine the route of infection of\n                      <jats:italic>M. ierei<\/jats:italic>\n                      in domestic cats.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Twenty kittens (6\u201312\u00a0weeks old) were exposed to infective third-stage larvae (L3) via six routes: per os (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20093), oral mucosa (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20093), nasal mucosa (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20093), subcutaneous (\n                      <jats:italic>n\u2009<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u20093), percutaneous (abdominal region) (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20092), external auditory canal (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20092), and an unexposed control group (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20094). Kittens were randomized across litters to minimize litter-associated effects and monitored using serial fecal examinations for 70\u00a0days post-inoculation to assess establishment of infection and egg shedding.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Motile L3 developed within 9\u00a0days in culture and exhibited morphometric characteristics consistent with previous descriptions. Two of 20 kittens developed patent\n                      <jats:italic>M. ierei<\/jats:italic>\n                      infections, first shedding eggs 48\u201351\u00a0days post-inoculation. Both infected animals belonged to the subcutaneous inoculation group, whereas no infections resulted from other inoculation routes. Mild, transient respiratory signs were observed in some kittens, including one prior to patency.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      These findings demonstrate, for the first time, a viable route of infection for\n                      <jats:italic>M. ierei<\/jats:italic>\n                      and provide the first experimental evidence of route of transmission for any species within the genus\n                      <jats:italic>Mammomonogamus<\/jats:italic>\n                      . The results suggest a direct life cycle, as infection was established in the absence of an intermediate host, but do not preclude the occurrence of paratenic hosts. Infection via subcutaneous exposure was successfully achieved; however, its relevance under natural conditions remains to be confirmed. This study advances the current understanding of\n                      <jats:italic>Mammomonogamus<\/jats:italic>\n                      biology and may have implications for parasite control and for transmission models of zoonotic species such as\n                      <jats:italic>Mammomonogamus laryngeus<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-026-07480-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T17:03:42Z","timestamp":1780679022000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Closing the gap on gapeworm: experimental infection of Mammomonogamus ierei in domestic cats"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Andreea Daniela","family":"Iani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrei Daniel","family":"Mihalca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer K.","family":"Ketzis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"7480_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1016","DOI":"10.1017\/S0031182017000221","volume":"144","author":"B \u010cerven\u00e1","year":"2017","unstructured":"\u010cerven\u00e1 B, Vallo P, Paf\u010do B, Jirk\u016f K, Jirk\u016f M, Petr\u017eelkov\u00e1 KJ, et al. 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The informed consent forms were completed by the kittens\u2019 owners or by an FCP representative.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent for publication","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Andrei Daniel Mihalca is an Associate Editor for Parasites & Vectors. The authors declare they have no other competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}],"article-number":"328"}}