THE OCCURRENCE OF DRACUNULUS INSIGNIS (LEIDY, 1858) CHANDLER, 1942 IN A SKUNK FROM ONTARIO, CANADA

There have been numerous reports of guinea worm infection in wild carnivores in North America (see Ewing and Hibbs, 1966, Amer. Midl. Nat. 76: 515.519 for a review of reported infections). However, only one such record lists Dracunculus sp. from a Canadian host; Chitwood (1933, J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 100: 802-804) reporting the occurrence in a raccoon from Ontario. Over a period of six years, we have examined numerous wild carnivores: i.e. raccoons, foxes, mink, and various weasels. In particular, approximately 125 striped skunks, Mephitis mephitis have been skinned in connection with various projects. It is only recently that we have found a single gravid female nematode indistinguishable from those described by Chandler (1942, J. Parasitol. 28: 255268; Amer. J. Trop. Med. 22: 153-157) as Dracunculus insignis (Leidy, 1858). Our specimen was found loosely coiled in the subcutaneous tissue of the front leg of a skunk from Peterborough,’ Ontario. From the number of skunks examined, both from Ontario and Quebec, and the single finding of this nematode, it would appear that D. insignis is not common in skunks in this part of North America. This is in agreement with other observations since D. insignis has been reported from North American skunks only three times previously; in Mephitis nigra from New York (Cheatum and Cook, 1948, ‘Cornell Vet. 38: 421-423); in Mephitis mephitis from Minnesota (Erickson, 1946, Amer. MidI. Nat. 36: 494-509) and Nebraska (Ewing and Hibbs, 1966, Amer. Midl. Nat. 76: 515-5 19).