Capillaria

Cedar, 1800

The genus Capillaria, hairworms, belong to the phylumNematoda in the family Trichuridae (whipworms). They parasitize in internal organs of vertebrates (dogs and poultry). Hairworms are very thin nematodes, 7 to 80 mm long. As in all Trichuridae, the esophagus is divided into an anterior, muscular, and a posterior, glandular part. Unlike their sister genus, the whipworms, their posterior end is not thickened. About 300 species are distinguished.

Humapathogenic species are mainly

• Capillaria aerophila
• Capillaria anatis
• Capillaria hepatica
• Capillaria philippinensis (causative agent of capillariasis)

1. Fan PC et al (2000) Capillaria hepatica: a spurious case with a brief review. Kaohsiung J Med Sci 16:360-367.
2. Fuehrer HPet al (2011) Capillaria hepatica in man--an overview of hepatic capillariosis and spurious infections. Parasitol Res 109:969-979.
3. Fuehrer HP (2014). An overview of the host spectrum and distribution of Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica): part 2-Mammalia (excluding Muroidea). Parasitol Res 113:641-651.
4. Himsworth CG et al. (2013) Rats, cities, people, and pathogens: A systematic review and narrative synthesis of literature regarding the ecology of rat-associated zoonoses in urban centers. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis13:349-359.
5. Roqueplo C et al. (2020) Enzootic Hepatic Capillariasis (Calodium hepaticum) in Street Rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Marseille City, France. Pathogens 9:1048.