Strongyloides stercoralis

This article is about the organism. For the infection, see Strongyloidiasis.

Threadworm
First stage larva (L1) of S. stercoralis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Nematoda
Class: Chromadorea
Order: Rhabditida
Family: Strongylidae
Genus: Strongyloides
Species:
S. stercoralis
Binomial name
Strongyloides stercoralis
Bavay, 1876

Strongyloides stercoralis is a human pathogenic parasitic roundworm causing the disease strongyloidiasis. Its common name in the US is threadworm. In the UK and Australia, however, the term threadworm can also refer to nematodes of the genus Enterobius, otherwise known as pinworms.[1]

The Strongyloides stercoralis nematode can parasitize humans. The adult parasitic stage lives in tunnels in the mucosa of the small intestine. The genus Strongyloides contains 53 species,[2][3] and S. stercoralis is the type species. S. stercoralis has been reported in other mammals, including cats and dogs. However, it seems that the species in dogs is typically not S. stercoralis, but the related species S. canis. Non-human primates are more commonly infected with S. fuelleborni and S. cebus, although S. stercoralis has been reported in captive primates. Other species of Strongyloides that are naturally parasitic in humans, but with restricted distributions, are S. fuelleborni fuelleborni in central Africa and S. fuelleborni kellyi in Papua New Guinea.[4]

  1. ^ Vanderkooi, M. (2000). Village Medical Manual (5th ed.). Pasadena: William Carey Library. ISBN 0878087788.
  2. ^ Speare, R. (1989). "Identification of species of Strongyloides". In Grove, D. I. (ed.). Strongyloidiasis: a major roundworm infection of man. London: Taylor & Francis. pp. 11–83. ISBN 0850667321.
  3. ^ Skerratt, L. F. (1995). "Strongyloides spearei n. sp. (Nematoda: Strongyloididae) from the common wombat Vombatus ursinus (Marsupialia: Vombatidae)". Systematic Parasitology. 32 (2): 81–89. doi:10.1007/BF00009506. S2CID 45308882.
  4. ^ Bradbury, Richard S. (2021). "In New Guinea: Neglected, ignored and unexplored". Microbiology Australia. 42 (4): 169–172. doi:10.1071/MA21048. S2CID 243462184.