Veterinary parasitology in the 21st century

Nomenclature1, which clearly reservethe use of capital initial letters solely forthe names of genera or higher taxa.These names, especially when printed initalics, much resemble the binominalspecies names, although they denote alarval stage only of a known parasitespecies.

The emergence of this type of spellingof the larval stages (metacestodes) oftapeworms dates to the end of the 18thcentury, when larval stages were oftenobserved in organs of different hostspecies, but their relationship torespective strobilar adult tapeworms wasnot understood. At that time, genera wereestablished for several morphologicallydistinctive larval stages such asEchinococcus Goeze, 1782, CysticercusZeder, 1800, Coenurus Rudolphi, 1808,and were described separately as distinctspecies, for example Echinococcushydatidosus, Cysticercus bovis,Cysticercus cellulosae, Coenuruscerebralis3. Meanwhile, the relationshiphas become known, but the old type ofspelling remained. In our time, however,there is neither reason nor excuse forwriting some metacestode names like aspecies name. Therefore, the names ofmetacestodes must be spelled correctlywith lower-case initial letters, such asechinococcus hydatidosus, cysticercusbovis, cysticercus cellulosae and coenuruscerebralis. (Obviously, the Germanlanguage is an exception where all nounsmust be spelled with a capital initialletter!)

Ordinary languages evolve. However,biological nomenclatures need consciouscultivation and updating. Adoption ofwell-reasoned changes is inescapable if wewant our nomenclature to be an exact toolof scientific communication.

Tibor Kassai

1125 Budapest Rõzse u. 19, Hungary. e-mail: ruff@mab.huninet.hu

References

1 (1985) International Code of ZoologicalNomenclature (3rd edn), International Trust forZoological Nomenclature

2 Council for International Organizations of MedicalSciences (1987) International Nomenclature ofDiseases (Vol. 2) Infectious Diseases (Part 4)Parasitic Diseases, World Health Organization

3 Rausch, R.L. (1997) Echinococcus granulosus:Biology and Ecology. In Compendium on CysticEchinococcosis in Africa and in Middle EasternCountries with Special Reference to Morocco(Andersen, F.L. et al., eds), pp. 18–53, BrighamYoung University

Veterinaryparasitology in the21st centuryZajac et al.1 recently highlighted theapparent decline in attention toparasitology in veterinary education andin the veterinary profession and thepaucity of research funding for veterinaryparasitology; they also suggested usefulsteps that veterinary parasitologistsshould take to remedy these problems.Unfortunately, it is true that muchveterinary parasitology research is drivenby the economical value of the animal andby the need to solve problems on a short-term basis at the expense of advancing thescience of parasitology and basic biology.The attention that curiosity-drivenresearch receives is often minimal.

In our opinion, the priority thatveterinary parasitology is accorded inscience, education and the veterinaryprofession should reflect the importantplace of parasitic diseases in animal andhuman health and livestock production,and the cost of parasite control. Forexample, parasitic infections in farmanimals are responsible for contaminationof surface water and of the environment asa whole; such infections facilitate thetransmission of diseases to humans and towildlife2. Parasitic infections will alsobecome increasingly important as theeconomy becomes more global3. Inaddition, the role that parasitologyresearch plays in advancing biomedicalresearch will not only affect the regard inwhich parasitology research, educationand practice are held, but also the fundingavailable for parasitology research.

In the heady days of the discovery anddevelopment of the few classes of broad-spectrum anthelmintics and endectocides,and the small number of narrow-spectrumantiparasiticides that we had, much moneywas available for clinical trials and good,but not always cutting-edge, research. Thattime has passed, and veterinaryparasitology research must and cancompete for high-quality basic biomedicalresearch funding in which veterinaryparasites and their hosts help to unravelfundamental questions of biology. Inaddition to the recommendations of Zajac et al., veterinary parasitologists need toengage in high-quality cutting-edgeresearch so that fundamental questions in

biology can be addressed. They also need tomake full use of the genomic andbiotechnology tools that are now availableto address questions of parasite infection,disease and control.

Gaétan M. Faubert*

Roger K. Prichard

Institute of Parasitology, McGill University,Montréal, Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9.*e-mail: gaetan.faubert@mcgill.ca

References

1 Zajac, A.M. et al. (2000) Why veterinarians shouldcare more about parasitology. Parasitol. Today 16,504–506

2 Ruest, N. et al. (1998) Prevalence andgeographical distribution of Giardia spp. andCryptosporidium spp. in dairy farms in Quebec.Can. J. Vet. 39, 697–700

3 Fayer, R. (2000) Global change and emerginginfectious diseases. J. Parasitol. 86, 1174–1181

Control oftrypanosomes incattle

The recent review articles in Trends inParasitology are helpful for the non-experts such as myself. Although I do notquestion the need for control of humantrypanosomosis, is the case for control incattle so clear cut? If properly farmed, arenot African game animals as productiveand less environmentally damaging thancattle in many parts of Africa? Would it notbe easier to train people to manage gameanimals than to eradicate tsetse flies ortreat cattle with trypanocides with theassociated problems of drug resistance?1

Is tsetse eradication really feasible, giventhe inability to eradicate sheep scab mitesin the small area of the UK?2 The need tocontrol certain other cattle diseases wouldbe eliminated where game displaced cattlein specified areas.

Gerald C. Coles

Dept of Clinical Veterinary Science,University of Bristol, Langford House,Bristol, UK BS40 5DU.e-mail: gerald.c.coles@bristol.ac.uk

References

1 Geerts, S. (2001) African bovine trypanosomiasis:the problem of drug resistance. Trends Parasitol.17, 25–28

2 Coles, G.C. (1998) Drug resistant parasites ofsheep: an emerging problem in Britain? Parasitol.Today 14, 86–88

TRENDS in Parasitology Vol.17 No.5 May 2001

http://parasites.trends.com 1471-4922/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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