1. The eyeworm Thelazia callipaeda in Portugal: Current status of infection in pets and wild mammals and case report in a beech marten (Martes foina)
- Author
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Maria dos Anjos Pires, Fernanda Seixas, Luís Cardoso, Ana Patrícia Lopes, Domenico Otranto, Paulo Travassos, Teresa A. Coutinho, and Maria Stefania Latrofa
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Vulpes ,Range (biology) ,030231 tropical medicine ,Beech marten ,Foxes ,Zoology ,Animals, Wild ,Spirurida Infections ,Cat Diseases ,Eye ,03 medical and health sciences ,Dogs ,0302 clinical medicine ,Mustelidae ,biology.domesticated_animal ,Animals ,Dog Diseases ,Spirurida ,Portugal ,General Veterinary ,biology ,Pets ,General Medicine ,030108 mycology & parasitology ,biology.organism_classification ,Thelazia ,Cats ,Thelazioidea ,Parasitology ,Mammal ,Thelazia callipaeda ,European rabbit - Abstract
Ocular thelaziosis is caused by nematodes of the genus Thelazia (Spirurida, Thelaziidae), which inhabit the surface of the eyes and associated tissues. Thelazia callipaeda affects a range of mammal species, including humans, and in the last two decades has been reported in multiple European countries, being classified as an emergent vector-borne pathogen. In Portugal T. callipaeda is endemic in north-eastern areas, where it has been reported in domestic dogs, cats, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). We report, for the first time, T. callipaeda in a beech marten (Martes foina) from Portugal and highlight the presence of haplotype 1 as the only one found in Europe, irrespective of the host species and geographical area of provenience.
- Published
- 2018