Gnathostoma infection in fish caught for local consumption in Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand I. Prevalence and fish species.

Between August 2000 and August 2001, 12,216 fish of 73 species were purchased from several local markets in Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand, and examined for the presence of Gnathostoma larvae. Almost all species were fresh-water fish that had grown naturally, rather than raised commercially. Eight species were found to be infected with gnathostome larvae. The overall prevalence was 5.1% (626/12,216) and a total of 5,969 larvae was recovered. The highest rate of infection (30.1 %) was found in Monopterus albus (swamp eel). The rates in the remaining infected fish were as follows: Anabas testudineus (climbing perch) 7.7%, Channa striata (striped snake-head fish) 7.4%, Clarius macrocephalus (Gunther's walking catfish) 6.7%, Channa micropeltes (giant snake-head fish) 5.1%, Channa lucius (blotched snake-head fish) 4.0%, Clarius batrachus (Batrachian walking catfish) 1.4%, and Ompok krattensis (butter sheatfish) 0.6%. The mean number of larvae/fish was highest in swamp eels (10.0 larvae/eel), and the maximum number of 698 larvae was recovered from one eel. The body sizes of the recovered G. spinigerum advanced third-stage larvae were 2.70-5.10 mm in length (average, 3.97+/-0.50 mm) and 0.29-0.60 mm in width (average, 0.40+/-0.04 mm). The average number of cephalic hooklets of the larvae from rows 1 to 4 were 41.8+/-0.5 (range, 40-43), 43.6+/-0.6 (range, 42-45), 46.1+/-0.9 (range, 44-48) and 49.3+/-0.7 (range, 48-51), respectively.