Linguatula serrata-Befall bei einem Importhund aus Rumänien

Abstract

Zusammenfassung Linguatula serrata, der zu den Pentastomida zählende sogenannte „Zungenwurm“, ist ein im Mittleren Osten, Afrika und Asien verbreiteter Parasit, der beim Endwirt Hund im Nasopharynx parasitiert. Einst auch in Mitteleuropa endemisch, spielt die Linguatulose heute vor allem als Importparasitose eine Rolle. Da es sich bei L. serrata um einen Zoonoseerreger handelt, ist ein potenzielles Infektionsrisiko für den Tierbesitzer und andere Kontaktpersonen zu beachten. Im beschriebenen Fall wurde ein 1,5 Jahre alter, aus Rumänien importierter Hütehundmischling aufgrund von wässrigem Nasenausfluss und „kehligem Räuspern“ vorgestellt. Nach Ausniesen eines Parasiten, das zur Verdachtsdiagnose Linguatulose führte, klangen die klinischen Symptome zunächst ab. Acht Monate später nieste der Hund jedoch ein zweites L. serrata-Exemplar aus, sodass ein Behandlungsversuch mit Milbemycinoxim/Praziquantel begonnen wurde. In Kot- und Nasenschleimproben waren zu diesem Zeitpunkt keine Parasiteneier nachweisbar. Dieser Fallbericht zeigt die Schwierigkeiten in der Diagnostik und Therapie der Linguatulose auf und diskutiert diese im Hinblick auf das zoonotische Potenzial des Parasiten.

Tongue worm in an untravelled dog in the UK

“…Infections are widely seen in dogs living in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Sporadic reports of occurrence in dogs imported to northern European countries exist, including the UK, 2–4 but as far as we are aware this is the first case reported in a dog resident in the UK with no history of foreign travel.…”

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

“…The dog in this case report was imported from Romania 3 months prior to presentation and had been in the same owner’s possession since its arrival in Italy. As a previous investigation has identified specimens of L. serrata in various wild canid species in Romania ( Barton et al ., 2022 ) and some cases of linguatulosis have been previously reported in dogs imported from Romania ( Villedieu et al ., 2017 ; Springer et al ., 2018 ; Thomas, 2018 ; Berberich et al ., 2022 ; Macrelli and Mckintosh, 2022 ), it can be assumed that L. serrata seems to be rather common in canids, including dogs, in that country. Studies showing that infections with nymphs of L. serrata are common in slaughtered domestic ruminants in Romania support this assumption ( Ioniță and Mitrea, 2016 ).…”

“…Reported prevalence values in dogs range from 37.45% in owned dogs in Nigeria ( Oluwasina et al ., 2014 ) to 76.5% in stray dogs in Iran ( Oryan et al ., 2008 ) and in wild canids range from 1.3% in foxes ( Hodžić et al ., 2016 ) to 67.6% in dingos ( Shamsi et al ., 2017 ). Moreover, some cases of occasional infections have been reported, sometimes as autochthonous cases ( Principato et al ., 1994 ; Paoletti et al ., 2003 ; Bordicchia et al ., 2014 ; Ioniță and Mitrea, 2016 ; Campbel and Jones, 2023 ) but more commonly as cases detected in dogs moved from a country to another country ( Globokar Vrhovec et al ., 2005 ; Mitchell et al ., 2016 ; Villedieu et al ., 2017 ; Springer et al ., 2018 ; Thomas, 2018 ; Nagamori et al ., 2019 ; Sievänen et al ., 2021 ; Berberich et al ., 2022 ; Macrelli and Mackintosh, 2022 ). This has led some authors to hypothesize that L. serrata infection might be considered an emerging parasitosis ( Berberich et al ., 2022 ).…”

Tongue worm (Linguatula serrata) infection in a dog imported into the United Kingdom from Romania

“…L. serrata is distributed worldwide and it seems to be more common in tropical regions like Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East 13 . This parasite is also fairly abundant in Eastern European countries, such as Romania 9,14 . In endemic countries, dogs over 5 year of age seems to be more frequently infested than dogs up to 4 years of age 13…”

“…13 This parasite is also fairly abundant in Eastern European countries, such as Romania. 9,14 In endemic countries, dogs over 5 year of age seems to be more frequently infested than dogs up to 4 years of age. 13 In Western Europe, linguatulosis is still considered sporadic in domestic carnivores; however, in recent years, the number of cases in dogs imported into the United Kingdom has increased.…”