Ocorrência e Distribuição de Achatina fulica e sua Importância como Hospedeiro de Nematoides na Cidade de Palmas, Estado do Tocantins, Brasil

Abstract

The African snail or giant snail, Achatina fulica, is considered one of the hundred worst invasive species in the world, causing environmental, economic and human health damage, being reported as an intermediate host of nematodes. This study was intended to describe the distribution of the snail in Palmas, Tocantins, and to research the occurrence of the larvae of nematodes, considering the climatic factors of the region. In the period from October 2014 to March 2017, 380 snails were collected in community gardens and vacant lots. The snails were identified and processed by digestion. The helminth recovered have been identified morphologically. Larvae of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus were found in snails from 35.6% of the studied vacant land and also the adult form of Rhabditis sp, in 7.14% of the vacant lots. It was possible to observe that the site of the collection of snails influenced in the presence of larvae of nematodes. During the study, the climatic conditions were evidenced by low humidity and high temperatures, may have influenced the occurrence of snails during the analyzed period, since they usually bury themselves and stowed in unfavorable conditions of temperature and Moisture. This study demonstrates the occurrence of the snail in several regions of the city of Palmas and its role as host of nematodes, which shows the need for measures of control and epidemiological surveillance for zoonoses transmitted by this snail.