Strongylosis in a horse carcass
In a 12 months old Cavall Pirinenc Català breed horse carcass the presence of abundant nodular structures disseminated on the peritoneum and abdominal fat was observed. Inside the cysts, nematode larvae were found.
These nematodes are compatible with the large strongyles group (Strongylidae family) The parasitological study allowed to identify them as Strongylus edentatus larvae (specifically the larval phase L5 also known as immature adults).
These are intestinal parasites that present during their cycle stages of larval migration outside the intestine during which they cause lesions on the liver and other abdominal structures such as the omentum, liver ligaments and diaphragm, often associated with hemorrhages, and generating, as in the case we are dealing with, eosinophilic granulomas. Once mature, the larvae return to the intestine where adults will lay their eggs, causing edema and/or haemorrhagic nodules or plates on the wall of the caecum and the colon.
It is not a zoonosis.