Haemonchus contortus is a highly pathogenic parasitic nematode of that can infect a large number of wild and
domesticated ruminant species and is the most economically important parasite of sheep and goats worldwide. Although
originally a tropical parasite, it has been disseminated around the world by livestock movement and can now be found as
far north as the arctic circle. Adult worms are blood feeders that reside in the abomasum (stomach) and are
approximately 2cm in length when mature. They are dioecious with single females typically producing several thousand
eggs per day which pass out of the host in faeces and develop to infective larvae on the pasture.
H. contortus is a member of the superfamily trichostrongyloidea (Strongylida) which contains most of the
economically important parasitic nematodes of grazing livestock. These parasites cost the global livestock industry
billions of dollars per annum in lost production and drug costs. Resistance to all the major anthelmintic classes is
now common worldwide often leading to failure of treatment and control. H. contortus is a close relative of the
human hookworm species and belongs to the nearest phylogenetic group of parasites to the free-living model nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans. This makes it an important model of parasitic nematode biology that is commonly used for
experimental studies.
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