A female prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis) was gastric intubated with 250 tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides sp. The snake was killed 12 wk postinfection; a portion of the liver was examined histologically for evidence of tetrathyridia. Five tetrathyridia were seen in two hepatic portal triad vessels. We propose that a blood-borne metastasis of tetrathyridia in reptiles and rodents may occur.
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1 January 1993
Asexually Proliferous Tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides sp. in the Hepatic Portal System of the Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis)
Paul C. Engen,
Elmer A. Widmer

Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 29 • No. 1
January 1993
Vol. 29 • No. 1
January 1993
Crotalus viridis viridis
experimental infection
hepatic portal system
Mesocestoides sp.
Prairie rattlesnake
tetrathyridium