Alaria alata Infection in European Mink

To the Editor. Alariosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease caused by infection with larval stages of trema-todes of the genus Alaria. The trema-todes are found in wildlife that inhabit wetlands, and these animals may serve as possible reservoirs for these organisms that cause human infection (1). The main sources for human infection are suids and frogs (1). In humans, the clinical features of alariosis caused by infections with the North Ameri-can species of Alaria vary from mild and asymptomatic to moderate with respiratory or cutaneous signs (2) or neuroretinitis (3), to severe-to-lethal anaphylactic shock caused by larva migrans (4,5). The genus Alaria has 7 species; only A. alata is found naturally in Europe (6), a species which has not thus far been shown to be responsible for human infections. A. alata infection is common in its typical definitive host (red fox, Vulpes vulpes) and in certain paratenic hosts (wild boar, Sus scrofa) (1). However , the role of other paratenic hosts is poorly known. Among these, mus-telids are reported to harbor mesocer-cariae of A. alata trematodes (7). The pathogenic effect of A. alata infection has been poorly studied, because most lesions described were in humans infected with other species of Alaria. Except for 2 experimental studies that described gross lesions produced by A. alata trematodes (6,8), to our knowledge, no data have been published concerning lesions produced by natural infection in nonhuman hosts. Our report provides a detailed description of the lesions, shown by micros-copy, which suggests the pathogenic mechanisms.