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First report of a naturally patent infection with Dirofilaria immitis in an otter (Lutra lutra)

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Abstract

Dirofilaria immitis causes a severe and life-threatening cardio-pulmonary disease in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas; also, zoonotic infections have been reported. This parasitic vector-borne disease is mostly common in domestic and wild canids and felids. Here, we present a rare finding of this roundworm in the heart of a Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). Four mature specimens of D. immitis were found in the right ventricle of the heart. Necropsy was performed after the animal was found road-killed in Eastern Serbia, close to the Danube River. Two heartworms were females, one was male and sex for one remained unidentified. Microfilariae were present in the uterus of one of the female heartworms, indicating that otters can act as reservoirs of dirofilariasis in the wild. This is the first report of a patent infection in a free-ranging otter.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their effort, careful reading, comments, and language editing.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Project No. 173006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia

    Aleksandra Penezić, Marija Spasić & Duško Ćirović

  2. Department of Veterinary Science, University of Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095, Turin, Italy

    Roberta Moriano

Authors
  1. Aleksandra Penezić
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  2. Roberta Moriano
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  3. Marija Spasić
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  4. Duško Ćirović
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aleksandra Penezić.

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The authors declare that the research complies with the current Serbian laws.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript being submitted. They warrant that the article is the authors’ original work, has not received prior publication, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

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Penezić, A., Moriano, R., Spasić, M. et al. First report of a naturally patent infection with Dirofilaria immitis in an otter (Lutra lutra). Parasitol Res 117, 929–931 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5769-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5769-y

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