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Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview

BACKGROUND: Linguatula serrata is a pentastomid zoonotic parasite with worldwide distribution. Although some cases of L. serrata infection have been reported in dogs, the epidemiology of this parasite remains largely unknown in developed countries. In recent years, canine linguatulosis has been repe...

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Autores principales: Marchetti, Veronica, Macchioni, Fabio, Gori, Eleonora, Venco, Luigi, Papini, Roberto Amerigo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10495093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37701671
http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i8.12
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author Marchetti, Veronica
Macchioni, Fabio
Gori, Eleonora
Venco, Luigi
Papini, Roberto Amerigo
author_facet Marchetti, Veronica
Macchioni, Fabio
Gori, Eleonora
Venco, Luigi
Papini, Roberto Amerigo
author_sort Marchetti, Veronica
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Linguatula serrata is a pentastomid zoonotic parasite with worldwide distribution. Although some cases of L. serrata infection have been reported in dogs, the epidemiology of this parasite remains largely unknown in developed countries. In recent years, canine linguatulosis has been repeatedly linked to cases of imported infections. This study aims to focus attention on this uncommon parasite through the presentation of a case report and an overview of the literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 1-year-old intact female Borzoi imported from Romania to Italy sneezed spontaneously a worm-like parasite specimen. Morphological and molecular diagnosis identified the parasite as a female of the zoonotic pentastomid L. serrata (so-called European tongue worm) that lives in the nasopharyngeal tract of canids. Eggs of Linguatula were detected in the feces. Molecular identification (99%–100% homology) was based on DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction of a 700-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, and alignment with BLAST analysis. Due to the possibility of other adult or juvenile specimens of the parasite still occurring in the dog, a treatment attempt with a combination of febantel/pyrantel/praziquantel was made. No parasite eggs were detected in fecal samples after the drug was administered. Endoscopy confirmed the absence of adult parasites and slight pathological changes. A follow-up examination conducted 3 months after the treatment did not reveal any clinical and laboratory abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Linguatula serrata appears to be currently prevalent in some European countries, but there are no recent extensive studies on the prevalence of canine linguatulosis, so the parasite frequently remains undetected and unreported in dogs as the diagnosis is often overlooked. Parasites not commonly found such as L. serrata can become increasingly prevalent and may be detected in imported dogs. Therefore, veterinarians must be aware of the possible presence of uncommon and exotic pathogens in these dogs, be able to recognize the relevant clinical signs, and diagnose the infection quickly. This will improve the prognosis in individual dogs, reduces the risk of possible public health implications, and reduces the risk of uncommon and exotic pathogens establishing new endemic foci.
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spelling pubmed-104950932023-09-12 Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview Marchetti, Veronica Macchioni, Fabio Gori, Eleonora Venco, Luigi Papini, Roberto Amerigo Open Vet J Case Report BACKGROUND: Linguatula serrata is a pentastomid zoonotic parasite with worldwide distribution. Although some cases of L. serrata infection have been reported in dogs, the epidemiology of this parasite remains largely unknown in developed countries. In recent years, canine linguatulosis has been repeatedly linked to cases of imported infections. This study aims to focus attention on this uncommon parasite through the presentation of a case report and an overview of the literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 1-year-old intact female Borzoi imported from Romania to Italy sneezed spontaneously a worm-like parasite specimen. Morphological and molecular diagnosis identified the parasite as a female of the zoonotic pentastomid L. serrata (so-called European tongue worm) that lives in the nasopharyngeal tract of canids. Eggs of Linguatula were detected in the feces. Molecular identification (99%–100% homology) was based on DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction of a 700-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, and alignment with BLAST analysis. Due to the possibility of other adult or juvenile specimens of the parasite still occurring in the dog, a treatment attempt with a combination of febantel/pyrantel/praziquantel was made. No parasite eggs were detected in fecal samples after the drug was administered. Endoscopy confirmed the absence of adult parasites and slight pathological changes. A follow-up examination conducted 3 months after the treatment did not reveal any clinical and laboratory abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Linguatula serrata appears to be currently prevalent in some European countries, but there are no recent extensive studies on the prevalence of canine linguatulosis, so the parasite frequently remains undetected and unreported in dogs as the diagnosis is often overlooked. Parasites not commonly found such as L. serrata can become increasingly prevalent and may be detected in imported dogs. Therefore, veterinarians must be aware of the possible presence of uncommon and exotic pathogens in these dogs, be able to recognize the relevant clinical signs, and diagnose the infection quickly. This will improve the prognosis in individual dogs, reduces the risk of possible public health implications, and reduces the risk of uncommon and exotic pathogens establishing new endemic foci. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine 2023-08 2023-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC10495093/ /pubmed/37701671 http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i8.12 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) ) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Marchetti, Veronica
Macchioni, Fabio
Gori, Eleonora
Venco, Luigi
Papini, Roberto Amerigo
Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title_full Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title_fullStr Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title_full_unstemmed Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title_short Linguatula serrata (Pentastomida: Linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from Romania to Italy: A case report and literature overview
title_sort linguatula serrata (pentastomida: linguatulidae) infection in a paucisymptomatic greyhound imported from romania to italy: a case report and literature overview
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10495093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37701671
http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i8.12
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