Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Stray dog in Italy with bleeding mouth from leech infestation
By Raele, Donato Antonio et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2015·Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Oral hirudiniasis in a stray dog, first report in Italy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A stray male dog was found in Italy with bleeding from its mouth and extreme weakness after falling into a water canal. Upon examination, veterinarians discovered a leech in the dog's mouth, likely ingested from drinking contaminated water. The leech was identified as Limnatis nilotica, a type of aquatic leech. This case marks the first report of a leech infestation in a dog's mouth in Italy. Treatment details are not specified, but the discovery of the leech was crucial for addressing the dog's condition.
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Abstract
In June 2014, a male stray dog was recovered at Ente Nazionale di Protezione Animali (ENPA) kennel of Manfredonia, Apulia region, showing oral bleeding and physical prostration. The dog fell in a water canal and was trapped. During the clinical examination, a specimen of leech was revealed into its oral cavity. The parasite, probably entered by drinking unfiltered and contaminated water, has been identified as an adult of aquatic leech Limnatis nilotica. Leeches could overrun wide variety of animals, and few reports about blood sucking leech infestations in mammals are available in literature. This paper describes here the first oral hirudiniasis in a dog in Italy and highlights the possibility of human nasopharyngeal leech-related infection in Apulia region.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26004432/