Parasites and Parasitic Diseases of Domestic Animals in the 
Hawaiian Islands 1 
Joseph E. Alicata 2 
Parasites of animals have gained entrance 
to the Hawaiian Islands for a century or 
more largely with the importation of infected 
animals from various parts of the world. 
Because of the mild climatic environment 
and other favorable factors, these parasites 
have become established and now constitute 
an agricultural problem of considerable eco¬ 
nomic importance. To what extent the peo¬ 
ple of these islands will be successful in 
keeping other animal parasites and vectors 
from entering, especially with the expansion 
of air and sea transportation, remains to be 
determined. Much is being done, however, 
through quarantine, inspection, and other 
Territorial and Federal regulatory measures 
to prevent the introduction of additional 
disease-producing organisms and vectors of 
disease. 
The parasites now present in domestic 
animals in the Hawaiian Islands are to a large 
extent the same as are found in continental 
United States. This is true because most of 
the animals found in the Islands have come 
from that area. There are a few parasitic 
forms, however, which have undoubtedly 
been introduced from the Orient. These 
include, at least, Fasciola gigantica Cobbold, 
the common liver fluke of cattle, and Hy- 
menolepis exigua Yoshida, a tapeworm fre¬ 
quently found in chickens. In spite of the 
many parasitic diseases which have been in¬ 
1 Published with the approval of the Director 
of the University of Hawaii Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station as Technical Paper 150. Manuscript 
received November 25, 1946. 
2 Parasitologist, University of Hawaii Agricul¬ 
tural Experiment Station, Honolulu, Hawaii. 
troduced from continental United States, 
some of the important ones affecting the 
blood, such as anaplasmosis and piroplas- 
mosis of cattle and dourine of horses, either 
have not been introduced or have failed to 
become established. 
The present paper represents a resume of 
internal and external parasites, and of their 
intermediate hosts, if any, which have been 
reported up to the present time from domes¬ 
tic animals in the Hawaiian Islands. Special 
reference is given to certain species which are 
of economic importance. Whereas consider¬ 
able data are available on parasites of chick¬ 
ens, cattle, horses, and swine, information on 
those of other animals is up to the present, 
time inadequate or entirely lacking. The 
chief sources of information on the external 
parasites reported in this paper have been 
the scattered reports published by various 
entomologists in the Islands. Data dealing 
with internal parasites (protozoa, round- 
worms, tapeworms, and flukes) and any of 
their intermediate hosts have been secured 
largely, except as indicated, from the various 
reports and observations made by the writer 
during the past several years. 
Parasites of Poultry 
protozoa 
Coccidial organisms, Eimeria tenella Rail- 
liet and Lucet, are the most important pro¬ 
tozoa affecting chickens. Infection with these 
parasites is as troublesome in Hawaii as it is 
anywhere else. 
Pigeons in Hawaii are commonly infected 
69 
