Introduction of
Achatina fulica
in Brazil has led to serious concerns about its role as vector for metastrongylid worms: Angiostrongylus costaricensis and
A. cantonensis. Experimental infection with both parasites was performed to evaluate the potential risk for their transmission by the giant African snail. Groups of 5 animals, both wild and bred at captivity were exposed at different inocula: 1, 5, and 10 x 10
3 L1 of
A. costaricensis and
A. cantonensis. In all groups, few snails got infected and parasitic burden was low. Two different ways of infection were tested: ingestion produced higher numbers of L3 than the inoculation through an artificial hole in the shell. We also report the parasitological examination of 6 batches of wild
A. fulica from Florianópolis, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil: only 1 out of 244 animals were infected with metastrongylid larvae. Taken together these data indicate that the giant African snail occurring in Southern Brazil is not a permissive host for both Angiostrongylus species and does not represent a significant risk for transmission of these parasites.
