Effect of irradiation on the viability of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and A. costaricensis infective larvae.

Infective larvae (third-stage larvae) of both Angiostrongylus cantonensis and A. costaricensis from their snail intermediate host were subjected to either X-ray or gamma-ray irradiation. The viability of the irradiated larvae was assayed by oral inoculation of the larvae into rodents (A. cantonensis in mice and rats, A. costaricensis in mice only). From the results of worm recovery, the minimal dose of irradiation that inhibited the infectivity of the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis was 2 and 4 kGy, respectively.