gapeworm

The drug Ivermectin is often used to control gapeworm infection in birds.

Turkey poults usually develop gapeworm signs earlier and begin to die sooner after infection than young chickens.

This "gaping" posture has given rise to the common term "gapeworm" to describe Syngamus trachea.

When the female gapeworm lays her eggs in the trachea of an infected bird, the eggs are coughed up, swallowed, then defecated.

A gapeworm (Syngamus trachea), also known as a red worm and forked worm, is a parasitic nematode worm infecting the tracheas of certain birds.

Because of the close resemblance of M. laryngeus to the gapeworm from the Syngamus genus that commonly infect birds, M. laryngeus was originally called Syngamus laryngeus and Syngamus kingi.

Only one member of this genus, Syngamus trachea, is of veterinary significance and parasitises the upper respiratory tract of non-aquatic birds; it is commonly known as the "gapeworm" and may be responsible for respiratory distress and death.

Notable species within the Syngamidae family include Syngamus trachea, commonly known as the gapeworm, which infests birds, and Mammomonogamus laryngeus, which is a parasite of ungulates, cats, and orangutans, and which can accidentally infect humans.

Although the complete life cycle of M. laryngeus is not fully known due to the rareness of the parasite in humans, the parasite is thought to adopt a life cycle similar to Syngamus trachea, the common gapeworm infection in birds that was initially thought to be mammomonogamiasis.

The life cycle of the gapeworm is peculiar in that transmission from bird to bird may be successfully accomplished either directly (by ingesting embryonated eggs or infective larvae) or indirectly (by ingestion of earthworms containing free or encysted gapeworm larvae they had obtained by feeding on contaminated soil).