The population biology of the parasitic stages of Haemonchus contortus

Abstract

SUMMARYThe population biology of the parasitic phase of the Haemonchus contortus life-cycle is discussed within the context of a mathematical model of those processes which regulate population density. Parasite death is assumed to be attributable to at least three processes: failure of the 3rd-stage larvae (L3) to exsheath following ingestion, failure to become established following exsheathment (immune exclusion), and mortality of 4th- and 5th-stage worms on the mucosal surface. The proportion of worms which avoid immune exclusion is a declining sigmoidal function of the duration of infection, at least under conditions of continual exposure to L3 larvae. Under the same conditions, the death rate of 4th- and 5thstage worms can be modelled as an increasing linear function of the host's experience of 3rd stage larvae. The model provides a good description of the worm burdens observed during the course of a long-term trickle infection experiment even though a priori arguments indicate that it would be an inadequate representation of events in the field.