Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Abdominal larval tapeworm infection in a Florida dog case
By Semenova, Varvara et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2025·Department of Comparative, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine proliferative sparganosis: a case report and review of larval cestodiasis in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog in Florida was found to have larval cestodes (a type of parasitic flatworm) in its abdomen during a routine spay surgery. The presence of these parasites, specifically from the Spirometra genus, was confirmed through genetic testing. This condition, known as proliferative sparganosis, is rare in dogs but can lead to serious health issues. The dog’s treatment involved careful monitoring and possibly further interventions to manage the infection. While the outcome for this specific case isn't detailed, recognizing and treating such infections early is crucial for a positive recovery.
People also search for: dog abdominal parasites · Spirometra infection in dogs · dog surgery findings · larval cestodiasis treatment
Abstract
Larval cestodiasis is characterized by aberrant migration and proliferation of larval cestodes in body cavities or tissues and is a rarely reported entity in domestic dogs. Cestodes of the genera Mesocestoides and Spirometra are reported as causative agents, and can cause tetrathyridiosis and proliferative sparganosis, respectively. Reported herein is a case of abdominal larval cestodiasis in a companion dog from Florida, USA. During routine ovariohysterectomy, larval cestodes were noted throughout the peritoneum. Histologically, the larvae were characterized by asymmetric budding projections and contained tegument-lined cystic spaces. Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger sequencing of multiple gene targets, including NAD, COX-1 and mt12S, identified the cestodes as a Spirometra sp with 100 % sequence identity to reference sequences from multiple species, including Spirometra erinaceieuropaei, Spirometra ranarum and Spirometra mansoni. While human proliferative sparganosis cases are routinely attributed to Sparganum proliferum, this report supports previous findings that Spirometra spp can cause proliferative sparganosis in dogs. Spirometra spp should be considered as a differential aetiology of proliferative sparganosis in dogs, and additional attention needs to be given to morphological and genetic characterization of Spirometra cestodes to better understand the role of these parasites in cases of animal sparganosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40315663/