Subcutaneous Dirofilariosis of the Eyelid Brought to Poland from the Endemic Territory of Ukraine

Rymgayłło-Jankowska, Beata; Ziaja‐Sołtys, Marta; Flis, Beata; Bogucka‐Kocka, Anna; Żarnowski, Tomasz

doi:10.3390/pathogens12020196

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…to Central Europe. Dirofilaria repens is now endemic in many countries in the region (Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Hungary, The Netherlands), and is currently considered to be one of the fastest spreading zoonoses in Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe [ 4 , 5 ]. In Ukraine, reporting cases of dirofilariasis has been mandatory since 1975, and the disease was included in the national surveillance system for notifiable diseases [ 6 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual Masquerading Infraorbital Mass—A Case Report of Human Ocular Dirofilariosis Found in A Ukrainian Patient in Switzerland

et al. 2023

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A 78-year-old Ukrainian woman who had immigrated to Switzerland presented with a rapid growing subcutaneous infraorbital mass. Surgical excision of the mass revealed a well-circumscribed, encapsulated tumor, adherent to the skin. The excision showed a soft tissue inflammation with parts of Dirofilaria spp. The number of cases of human dirofilariosis reported in the last 50 years has gradually increased. Dirofilaria repens is now endemic in many countries and is currently considered to be one of the fast spreading zoonoses in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe. The first empirical evidence of Swiss spreading of D. repens infections was in a dog from southern Switzerland in 1998. Ours is the first case of human orbital dirofilariosis found in a Ukranian patient reported in Switzerland. Our purpose is to inform the ophthalmologist to consider orbital dirofilariosis in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory masses of the orbit and to warn about the spread of this infection in Switzerland.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual Masquerading Infraorbital Mass—A Case Report of Human Ocular Dirofilariosis Found in A Ukrainian Patient in Switzerland

et al. 2023

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“…The rst case of D. repens infection in Poland was reported in humans in 2007 (17,18), but the patient traveled to Greece a few years earlier so invasion might be imported. The rst autochthonous infection in humans was reported in 2010 (19) and additional cases were described in the following years (19)(20)(21)(22)(23). The rst case of canine diro lariasis was described in 2009 (24,25), and since then the prevalence of infected dogs increased constantly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An unexpected case of a dog from Poland co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis

Mateusz,

Katarzyna,

Martina

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background Dirofilariasis is a vector-borne disease caused by parasitic nematodes of the genus Dirofilaria spp., considered an emerging problem of both veterinary and human medicine. Due to the climate changes and human activities, like traveling with pets, diseases spread to new non-endemic regions. Poland is dominated by subcutaneous dirofilariasis caused by D. repens infections. Cardiopulmonary dirofilariasis, also known as a heartworm disease is much more rare with only single autochthonous cases reported so far. Also, imported infections are observed sporadically in dogs traveling to endemic countries. In the present study, we report a first case of a dog from Poland, that has never traveled abroad, co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis. Case presentation: A 14-year-old mixed breed, an intact male dog with fever, lightly pale mucosal membranes, moderate abdominal pain, and mild cough was presented in a veterinary clinic in Warsaw, Poland. The examination of the blood sample collected for complete morphology and biochemistry revealed alive microfilariae. Presence of the DNA of both microfilariae species was detected using Real-Time PCR with species-specific primers. Conclusions Since the remaining diagnostic methods like Knott's test, antigen test or echocardiography did not reveal the presence of D. immitis, we discussed the impact of microfilariae periodicity and low worm burden infections on the limited efficiency of these techniques. We strongly recommend using a mixed diagnostic approach for the most sensitive and specific diagnosis as the ideal diagnostic method does not exist and several factors may easily lead to misdiagnosis. Furthermore, we considered factors that contribute to the uncontrolled spread of dirofilariasis like climate changes, introduction of new species of mosquitoes competent for the transmission of the disease, and wildlife animals as an important reservoir of this parasitosis. Since Poland borders countries considered endemic and pre-endemic for D. immitis, like Slovakia or Ukraine, we could expect an increase in autochthonous heartworm infection and changes in the epidemiological pattern of dirofilariasis in the near future.

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An unexpected case of a dog from Poland co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria Immitis

Pękacz,

Basałaj,

Miterpáková

et al. 2024

BMC Vet Res

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Background Dirofilariasis is a vector-borne disease caused by parasitic nematodes of the genus Dirofilaria spp., considered an emerging concern in both veterinary and human medicine. Climate changes and human activities, such as pet travel, contribute to the spread of diseases to new non-endemic regions. Poland is dominated by subcutaneous dirofilariasis caused by D. repens infections. Cardiopulmonary dirofilariasis, also known as a heartworm disease is much more rare with only single autochthonous cases reported so far. Also, imported infections are observed sporadically in dogs traveling to endemic countries. In this study, we report the first case of a dog in Poland, never having traveled abroad, co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis. Case presentation A 14-year-old mixed breed, an intact male dog with fever, lightly pale mucosal membranes, moderate abdominal pain, and a mild cough was presented in a veterinary clinic in Warsaw, Poland. The examination of the blood sample collected for complete morphology and biochemistry revealed the presence of live microfilariae. Presence of the DNA of both microfilariae species was detected using Real-Time PCR with species-specific primers. Conclusions Since the remaining diagnostic methods like Knott’s test, antigen test or echocardiography did not reveal the presence of D. immitis, we discussed the impact of microfilariae periodicity and low worm burden infections on the limited efficiency of these techniques. We strongly recommend using a mixed diagnostic approach for the most sensitive and specific diagnosis since the ideal diagnostic method does not exist, and several factors may contribute to misdiagnosis. Furthermore, we considered factors that contribute to the uncontrolled spread of dirofilariasis such as climate changes, introduction of new species of mosquitoes competent for the transmission of the disease, and wildlife animals as an important reservoir of this parasitosis. Given that Poland shares borders with countries classified as endemic and pre-endemic for D. immitis, such as Slovakia and Ukraine, it is reasonable to anticipate a rise in autochthonous heartworm infections and shifts in the epidemiological pattern of dirofilariasis in the coming years.

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Subcutaneous Dirofilariosis of the Eyelid Brought to Poland from the Endemic Territory of Ukraine

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Unusual Masquerading Infraorbital Mass—A Case Report of Human Ocular Dirofilariosis Found in A Ukrainian Patient in Switzerland

Unusual Masquerading Infraorbital Mass—A Case Report of Human Ocular Dirofilariosis Found in A Ukrainian Patient in Switzerland

An unexpected case of a dog from Poland co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis

An unexpected case of a dog from Poland co-infected with Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria Immitis

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