Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
First report offrom Israel and confirmation of two genotypes circulating among canine, feline and human hosts.
- Journal:
- Parasitology
- Year:
- 2020
- Authors:
- Rojas, A et al.
- Affiliation:
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old dog in Israel was taken to an eye specialist because it had serious problems with its right eye. The dog had not traveled outside of Israel, but during surgery, the vet found and removed thin worms from the eye, which were identified as Onchocerca lupi, a parasite that can affect both dogs and humans. Genetic testing showed that these worms belonged to a specific group that is found in dogs, cats, and humans across different parts of the world. This study highlights that there are two different types of this parasite, with the one found in Israel being the same as one seen in the USA. The treatment involved surgery to remove the worms, and while the abstract does not specify the outcome for the dog's health, it confirms the presence of this parasite in the region.
Abstract
Onchocerca lupi is a parasitic filarioid and the causative agent of canine ocular onchocercosis, a zoonotic disease of domestic dogs with sporadic reports in humans. A 13-year-old dog with no travel history outside of Israel was presented to an ophthalmology veterinary clinic in Israel with severe right ocular and periocular disease. After surgical exploration, thin helminths were removed from the dorsal sclera of the eye and identified as Onchocerca lupi by polymerase chain reaction according to the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5) and 12S rRNA genes. Phylogenetic trees and haplotype networks of the cox1 and nad5 genes confirmed the circulation of two genotypes: genotype 1 with worms from dogs, cats and humans from both the Old and New Worlds, and genotype 2 with specimens from Portugal and Spain. The Israeli sequences clustered in genotype 1 and were identical to O. lupi from the USA. Evidence of two genotypes separated geographically sheds light on the phylogeography and evolution of this zoonotic pathogen, and suggests a diverse pathology observed in different regions of the world.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32829715/