Species info

Haemonchus contortus (Barber pole worm) Description Haemonchus contortus Haemonchus contortus is a parasite of ruminants (sheep, goats, cattle and other wild ruminants) leading to emaciation, anemia and in certain cases death. As such it represents a major economic scourge. Control is by drug therapy typically in the animals feed. Transmission does not require an intermediate host. Lifecycle Adult worms live in the abomasum (stomach) of ruminant animals, females depositing upto 10,000 eggs per day which pass out of the host in the faeces. L1 hatch from the eggs and feed on bacteria - moulting twice to form the infective L3 larvae which retain the L2 stage cuticle as a protective sheath. Consumption of L3 larvae by the host leads to exsheathment in the rumen. The L3 larvae then migrate to the abomasum where they burrow into the mucosa where they moult into L4 larvae which emerge into the paramucosal lumen of the abomasum. Here they feed and undergo a final moult to reach adulthood. Details Total number of sequences 22249 Number of NEMBASE clusters 4967 Number of Libraries 13 Phylogeny Clade V Links NEMBASE Library statistics Nematode.net @ G.S.C. Vetinary information Epidemiology Other General Information Contacts University of Edinburgh Mark Blaxter Moredun Institute David Knox Pathogen Sequencing Unit Sanger Institute Neil Hall