In a coughing cat with eggs approximately 80 micrometers in size, which parasite is most likely involved?

In a coughing cat with eggs approximately 80 micrometers in size, which parasite is most likely involved?

• A. Toxocara cati
• B. Paragonimus species
• C. Dipylidium caninum
• D. Ancylostoma caninum

Answer: (B)

When a cat coughs, think about parasites that involve the lungs. Paragonimus species are lung flukes that live in the bronchi and produce eggs that are released in the airway and swallowed to exit in feces. Those eggs are typically around 80 micrometers in length, have a thick shell, and usually show an operculum at one end. That combination of a pulmonary clinical sign and eggs about 80 μm strongly points to a Paragonimus infection. Other parasites listed don’t fit as neatly with both the site and the egg size. Toxocara cati eggs are also around a similar size but are primarily an intestinal nematode; their migration can involve the lungs, but coughing isn’t as characteristic, and their eggs lack the distinctive operculum seen with Paragonimus. Dipylidium caninum produces small eggs in packets from tapeworm segments rather than individual eggs in stool. Ancylostoma caninum eggs are smaller (about 60 by 40 μm) and again reflect a different disease pattern, not the classic pulmonary involvement.

When a cat coughs, think about parasites that involve the lungs. Paragonimus species are lung flukes that live in the bronchi and produce eggs that are released in the airway and swallowed to exit in feces. Those eggs are typically around 80 micrometers in length, have a thick shell, and usually show an operculum at one end. That combination of a pulmonary clinical sign and eggs about 80 μm strongly points to a Paragonimus infection.

Other parasites listed don’t fit as neatly with both the site and the egg size. Toxocara cati eggs are also around a similar size but are primarily an intestinal nematode; their migration can involve the lungs, but coughing isn’t as characteristic, and their eggs lack the distinctive operculum seen with Paragonimus. Dipylidium caninum produces small eggs in packets from tapeworm segments rather than individual eggs in stool. Ancylostoma caninum eggs are smaller (about 60 by 40 μm) and again reflect a different disease pattern, not the classic pulmonary involvement.