Dirofilaria repens

Dirofilaria repens

<p align="CENTER"><span style="font-size: large"><i><b>Dirofilaria repens</b></i></span><span style="font-size: large"><b> Railliet and Henry, 1911</b></span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>ETYMOLOGY: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Diro </i></span><span style="font-size: medium">= dread + </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>filaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> = thread along with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> = creeping</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>SYNONYMS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Filaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>acutiuscula</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> Molin, 1858; </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>conjunctivae</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Addario, 1885) Desportes, 1940.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>HISTORY: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium">The parasite first was described from the dog by Railliet and Henry (1911a&amp;b). Desportes (1940) first recognized that the worm </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Filaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>conjunctivae</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> Addario, 1885, may have been the same species as that found in the dogs. Skrjabin (1917) described a human case under the name of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Loa </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>extraocularis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">, and Skrjabin et al. (1930) attributed a second human case to </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. In 1948, Skrjabin and Schikhobalova recognize </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Loa </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>extraocularis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> as a sysnonym of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. Cacrini et al. (1990) felt that the laws of priority were such that the worm should be called </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>conjunctivae</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Addario, 1885); but this designation has not been currently adopted.. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium">Chauve (1990) presents the distribution of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> in dogs as including Nigeria and Uganda in Africa, along with Turkey, Italy, and France in Europe. Human cases have been reported from Italy, Greece, France, and other Mediterranean countries (Pampiglione et al., 1995; Pampiglione et al., 1996), parts of Russia (Avdyukhina et al, 1997), Africa (O’Grady et al,. 1962); Israel (Zweig et al,m 1981), Sri Lanka (Dissanaike et al., 1972), and Okinawa (MacLean et al., 1979).. Cats have been found to be infected in Malaysia (Chang et al, 1992; Mak et al, 1985; Rohde, 1962) and on the Pate island off the coast of Kenya (Heisch et al 1959). Cats and dogs have also been found infected in India (Patnaik, 1989) and Indonesia (Palmieri et al., 1985). Interestingly, the cats in the Mediterranean do not seem to support infections with this parasite in this locality, although Pampiglione et al (1995) cite a personal reference from Dr Genchi that a cat has been observed infected in Italy. .</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>LOCATION IN HOST:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"> The adult worms are rather large, males are 5 to 7 cm and females are 10 to 17 cm long, and are found in the subcutaneous connective tissues of their hosts.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">PARASITE IDENTIFICATION: </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>LIFE CYCLE:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"> The adults live in the subcutaneous tissues. Microfilariae (about 300 μm long) are found in the blood and seem to be slightly periodic being more common in the peripheral blood at night (Webber and Hawking, 1955). Mosquitoes of several different genera serve as the intermediate hosts (Bernard and Bauche, 1913; Fülleborn, 1908), and it takes about 9 to 21 days for the larvae to become infective depending on the temperatures at which the mosquitoes are held. Gunewardene (1956) recovered infective larvae from mosquitoes (</span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>albopictus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">) by 12 days after infection. Mosquitoes incriminated as potential hosts (acc. To Manotovani and Restani, 1965) include </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>alpopictus, Aedes aegypti, Aedes albifasciatus, Psorophora cyanescens, Anopheles maculipennis, Anopheles petragnanii, Anopheles claviger, Anorpheles atroparvus, Anopheles hyrcanus, Anopheles stephensi, Anopheles barbirostris, Mansonia uniformis, Mansonia annulifera, Mansonia titillans</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">, and </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Armigere s</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>obturbans</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. Bain (1978) studied the development of the larvae in </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>detritus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>caspius</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. She described the morphology of the larval stages developing within these mosquitoes. Webber and Hawking (1955) inoculated dogs with infective larvae and found the prepatent period to be about 6 months, 25 to 34 weeks. Microfilariae would circulate in the blood of infected dogs for 2 to 3 years.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND PATHOGENESIS: </b>There are a few reports regarding pathology or clinical presentation in cats infected with this parasite.  Tarello (2011) reviews what he saw in a case series of 31 cats: <b> </b>“Among 31 cats with subcutaneous dirofilariasis [4, 5, 12–14], symptoms observed more often were pruritus (100%), alopecia (77.4%), erythema (74.2%), papulae (51.6%), and crusting (29%).<b> </b>Symptoms and signs other than dermatological were as follows: anorexia (35.5%), lymphadenomegaly (32.3%), pale mucous membranes (29%), lethargy (16%), conjunctivitis (16%), pain (16%), and fever (10%) [4, 5, 12–14]. Concurrent infection with haemobartonellosis (<em>Mycoplasma haemofelis</em> infection), or Feline Infectious Anemia, which is transmitted by fleas or ticks, was recorded in 25 (80%) out of 31 cats examined and its therapy with doxycycline (10mg/kg, for 20 days) greatly contributed to the clinical resolution [4, 5, 12–14]. Doxycycline is important in the therapy of dirofilariasis because it also eradicates the <em>Wolbachia</em> spp. bacteria symbiotic of adult worms, causing their sterilization and death [26].” (The references in the preceding quote can be found in the original paper.) </span><span style="font-size: medium"></span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>TREATMENT:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"> There have been no descriptions of treatment in the cat.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>EPIZOOTIOLOGY:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"> The most intriguing aspect of the epizootiology of infections with this parasite is the fact that it seems much more common for cats to be infected in southeast Asia than in southern Europe. This could be due to either different strains of the parasite or host being present in these two parts of the world, or it may be that the mosquitoes in southeast Asian are more likely to feed on both dogs and cats and thus, transmit the parasite between these two hosts. </span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>HAZARDS TO OTHER ANIMALS: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium">The cat really poses no threat to other animals. In southeast Asia where cats have circulating microfilariae, it is possible that cats could serve as reservoirs for canine or human infections.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>HAZARD TO HUMANS:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium"> There have been numerous infections with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. An excellent review of human infections by Pampiglione et al. (1995). There have been nearly 400 cases in people, with most cases, slightly less than half, occurring in Italy. Most of the cases have occurred as worms appearing in subcutaneous nodules on the head, thoracic wall, or upper limbs. Occasionally, worms may cause lesions in deeper tissues, and on rare occasions lesions in the lungs have been mistaken for malignancies. Of course, human infections are acquired by the bite of a mosquito in a fashion similar to that by which dogs and cats become infected.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>CONTROL/PREVENTION: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium">Marconcini et al (1993) have shown that monthly ivermectin at the heartworm preventative dose of 6 μg/kg is capable of preventing dogs from becoming infected with Dirofilaria repens. Thus, it is to be expected that the use of monthly ivermectin in the cat would also prevent infection of cats with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium"><b>REFERENCES:</b></span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Anderson RC. 1952. Description and relationships of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>ursi</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> Yamaguti, 1941, and a review of the genus </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> Railliet and Henry, 1911. Trans Roy can Inst Part II 29:35-65.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Avdyukhina TI, Supryaga VG, Postnnova VF, Kuimova RT, Micrnova NI, Muratov NE, Putintseva EV. 1997. Dirofilariasis in CIS countires. Analysis of cases from 1915-1996. Med Parazit Parazit Bol 1997(4):3-7.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Bain O. 1978. Dévelopment en Camargue de la filaire du chien, </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> Railliet et Henry, 1911, chex Aedes halophile. Bull Mus Nat Hist Nat 351:19-27.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Bernard PN, Bauche J. 1913. Conditions de propagation de la filariose sous-cutanée du chien, </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Stegomyia</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>fasciata</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> hôte intermédiaire de </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">. Bull Soc Path Exot 2:89-99.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Cancrini G, Mantovani A, Coluzzi M. 1979. Experimental infection of the cat with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> of dog origin. Parassitologia 21:89-90.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Cancrini G, Mattiucci S,. D’Amelio S, Coluzzi M. 1990. L’analisi elttroforetica di sistemi gene-enzima perr l’identificazione di forme larvali di Dirofilaria nel-l’uomo. Parassitologia 32(suppl 1):41.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Chang MS, Ho BC, Hardin S, Doraisingam P. 1992. Filariasis in Kota Saraarahan District Sarawak, East-Malaysia. Trop Biomed 9:39-46.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Chauve CM. 1990. </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Railliet et Henry, 1911), </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dipetalonema </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>reconditum</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Grassi, 1890), </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dipetalonema </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>dracunculoides</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Coabbold, 1870), and </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dipetalonema </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>grassii</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (Noé, 1907: Quatre filaires méconnues du chien. Prat Méd Chir Anim Comp Suppl 3:293-304.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Desportes C. 1940. Filaria conjunctivae Addario 1885, parasite accidentel de l’homme, est un Dirofilaria. Ann Parasitol hum comp 17:380-404, 515-532.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Dissanaike AS, Lykov VP, Sri Skanda R, Sivayoham I, Wijesekera SVI, Perera MCS. 1982. Four more cases of human infection with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (</span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Nochtiella</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">). Ceylon Med J 17:105-113.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Fülleborn F. 1908. Ueber Versuche an Hundefilarien un deren Uebertragung durch Müken. Arch Sch TropHyg Path Ther Exot Krakh 12:313-351.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Gunewardene K. 1956. Observations on the development of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> in </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (</span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Stegomyia</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">) </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>albopictus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> and other common mosquitoes in Ceylon. Ceylon J Med Sci 9:45-53.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Heisch RB, Nelson GS, Furlong M. 1959. Studies in filariasis in East Africa. 1. Filariasis on the Island of Pate, Kenya. Trans Roy Soc Trop Med Hyg 53:41-53.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Huber B. 1985. Cas cliniques: helminthoses canines à manifestations cutanées. Point Vét 17:43-48.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">MacLean, JD, Beaver PC, Michalek H. 1979. Subcutaneous dirofilariasis in Okinawa, Japan. Am J Trop Med Hyge 28:45-48.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Mak JW, Lye MS, Sim BKL, Cheong WH, Lee CP. 1985. Studies on malaria and filariasis in Hilir Perak, Pennisular Malaysia. Trop Biomed 2:40-46.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Mantovani A, Restani R. 1965. Richerche sui possibili artropodi vettori di </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> in alcune provincie dell’Italia centrale. Parassitologia 7:109-116.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Marconcini A, Magi M, Hecht Contin B. 1993. The efficacy of ivermectin in the prophylazis of <em>Dirofilaria repens</em> infection in dogs naturally exposed to infection. Parassitologia 35:67-71.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Nair CP, Roy R, Raghavan NGS. 1961. Susceptibility of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Aedes </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>albopictus</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> to </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> infection in cats. Ind J Malariology 15:49-52.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Nelson GS. 1959. The identification of infective filaria larvae in mosquitoes: with a note on the species found in “wild” mosquitoes on the Kenya coast. J Helminthol 33:233-256.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">O’Grady F, Fawcett AN, Buckley JJC. 1962. A case of human infection with </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (</span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Nochtiella</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">) sp. Probably of African origin. J Helminthol 36:309-312.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Palmieri JR, Masbar S, Purnomo, Marwoto HA, Tirtokusumo S, Darwis F. 1985. The domestic cat as a host for brugian filariasis in South Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. J Helminthol 59:277-281.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Pampiglione S, Canestri Trotti G, Rivasi F. 1995. Human dirofilariasis due to </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> (</span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Nochtiella</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">) </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium">: a review of world literature. Parassitologia</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Pampiglione S, Canestri Trotti G, Rivasi F, Vakalis N. 1996. Human dirofilariasis in Greece: a review of reported cases and a description of a new, subcutaneous case. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 90:319-328.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Patnaik MM. 1989. On filarial nematodes in domestic animals in Orissa. Ind Vet J 66:573-574.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Railliet A, Henry A. 1911a. Sur une filaire péritonéale des porcins. Bull Soc Pathol Exot 4:386-389.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Railliet A, Henry A. 1911b. Remarques au sujet des deux notes de MM. Bauche et Bernard. Bull Soc Pathol Exot 4:485-488.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Rohde K. 1962. Helminthen aus Katzen un Hunden in Malaya; Bemerkungen zu ihrer epideiologischen Bedeutung für den Menschen. Ztsch Parasitenk 22:237-244.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Scarzi M. 1995. Cutaneous dirofilariosis in dogs. Obiettivi e Documenti Veterinari. 16(6): 11-15.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Skrjabin KI. 1917. </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Loa</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>extraocularis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> n. sp. parasite nouveu de l’oeil de l’homme. CR Hebd Soc Biol Paris 80:759-762.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Skrjabin KI, Althausen AJ, Schuilman ES. 1930. First case of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria </i></span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> from man. Trop Med I Veter Moscow 8:9-11 [in Russian].</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Skrjabin KI, Schikhobalova NP. 1948. Filariae of man and animals. 171-173. [in Russian]</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Tarello, W. 2011.  Clinical Aspects of Dermatitis Associated with <em>Dirofilaria repens</em> in Pets: A Review of 100 Canine and 31 Feline Cases (1990–2010) and a Report of a New Clinic Case Imported from Italy to Dubai.  Journal of Parasitology Research, Vol 2011,  Article ID 578385, 7 pages, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/578385.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Webber WAF, Hawking F. 1955. Experimental maintenance of </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria repens</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>D. immitis</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> in dogs. Exp Parasitol 4:143-164.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Yen PKF, Zaman V, Mak JW. 1982. Identification of some common infective filarid larvae in Malaysia. J Helminthol 56:69-80.</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size: medium">Zweig A, Karasik A, Hiss J. 1981. </span><span style="font-size: medium"><i>Dirofilaria</i></span><span style="font-size: medium"> in a cervical lymph node in Israe. Hum Pathol 12:”939-940.</span></p>