Capillaria Aerophila - Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Capillaria aerophila has a direct life cycle, meaning that it can be completed in one host. The adults lay eggs in the lungs. The eggs are coughed up and swallowed by the host; and are then passed in the feces. In about 5-7 weeks, the larvae develop into the infective stage within the egg envelope in the soil. The infective larvae remain viable for up to 1 year. When a suitable host eats these mature eggs, the larvae hatch in the intestines and migrate to the lungs. They mature into adults about 40 days post-infection. Earthworms may act as intermediate hosts, by eating the C. aerophila eggs and infecting mammalian hosts when eaten by the mammals. However, the involvement of the earthworms is not necessary for the completion of the C. aerophila life cycle.

Read more about this topic:  Capillaria Aerophila

Famous quotes containing the words life and/or cycle:

    For the soldier of time, it breathes a summer sleep,

    In which his wound is good because life was.
    No part of him was ever part of death.
    A woman smoothes her forehead with her hand
    And the soldier of time lies calm beneath that stroke.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
    A medley of extemporanea;
    And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
    And I am Marie of Roumania.
    Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)