Ancylostomatidae

Angelo Dubini, 1843

Ancylostomatidae (from ankylos = crooked) or hookworms are a family ofnematodes. Ancylostomatidae are 0.7-1.8cm long filamentous worm species whose anterior end is hooked. Characteristic of these worms is a mouth papule with tooth-like structures.

Classification of the human pathologically important species

• Ancylostoma duodenale (systemic ancylomastomiasis)
• Necator americanus (systemic ancylostomiasis)
• Ancylostoma ceylanicum (systemic ancylostomiasis)

Other human-pathogenic hookworm species; these do notcause a systemic infectionin humans = false host, but only a local skin infection = larva migrans cutanea syndrome.

• Ancylostoma caninum (hookworm of the dog)
• Ancylostoma tubaeforme (most common hookworm in cats)
• Uncinaria stenocephala (main host: fox)
• Ancylostoma ceylanicum (main host: cat)
• Ancylostoma brasiliense (South America, main host: dog and cats)
• Bunostomum phlebotomum (main host: cattle, sheep)

Ancylostomatidae are among the most common causative agents of worm infections in the tropics and subtropics. Endemic areas are Africa, Asia, southern Europe, Central and South America, southern USA. About 900 million people are infected (death rate up to 60,000 per year).

In the past, infections with Ancylostoma duodenale also occurred in Central Europe among miners in hard coal mines, due to the presence of sufficient moisture under suitable temperature conditions. It was therefore also called "mine worm".