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Zoonotic ocular onchocercosis caused by Onchocerca lupi in dogs in Romania

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Abstract

Onchocerca lupi is a filarial nematode, which infects the scleral conjunctival tissue of dogs, wolves and cats. Whilst adult nematodes localize in the conjunctive tissue of sclera or in the retrobulbar, microfilariae are found in the skin, and they are rarely diagnosed in asymptomatic animals. Since the first report of human ocular infection 5 years ago, up to 10 zoonotic cases have been identified in patients worldwide. We report, for the first time in Romania, three cases of canine ocular onchocercosis in dogs. Fragments of the harvested worms were characterized morphologically and molecularly. This article expands knowledge on the distribution of this parasite in Eastern Europe and sounds an alarm bell for ophthalmologists about the possible occurrence of human cases of O. lupi infection.

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Acknowledgments

The work was conducted under the frame of EurNegVec COST Action TD130

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Poliana Tudor, Niculae Tudor, Adina Bădicu & Iuliana Ionașcu

  2. Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Mihai Turcitu & Florica Bărbuceanu

  3. Agervet-Clinic Târgoviște, Târgoviște, Romania

    Cosmin Mateescu & Romanița Mateescu

  4. Department of Immunology, Aggeu Magalhães Research Institute, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Filipe Dantas-Torres

  5. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Str. prov. per Casamassima km 3 Valenzano, 70010, Bari, Italy

    Filipe Dantas-Torres & Domenico Otranto

  6. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Iași, Iași, Romania

    Lavinia Ciuca, Ioana Burcoveanu & Dumitru Acatrinei

  7. Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Lavinia Ciuca & Laura Rinaldi

Authors
  1. Poliana Tudor
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  2. Mihai Turcitu
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  3. Cosmin Mateescu
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  4. Filipe Dantas-Torres
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  5. Niculae Tudor
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  6. Florica Bărbuceanu
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  7. Lavinia Ciuca
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  8. Ioana Burcoveanu
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  9. Dumitru Acatrinei
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  10. Laura Rinaldi
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  11. Romanița Mateescu
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  12. Adina Bădicu
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  13. Iuliana Ionașcu
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  14. Domenico Otranto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Domenico Otranto.

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Tudor, P., Turcitu, M., Mateescu, C. et al. Zoonotic ocular onchocercosis caused by Onchocerca lupi in dogs in Romania. Parasitol Res 115, 859–862 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4816-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4816-1

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