Ocular linguatuliasis in Ecuador: case report and morphometric study of the larva of Linguatula serrata.

Abstract

Abstract. Linguatula serrata is a pentastomid, a cosmopolitan parasite belonging to the Phylum Pentastomida. Humans may act as an intermediate or accidental definitive host of this parasite, manifesting the nasopharyngeal or visceral form, with the latter having been described more frequently. The occurrence of ocular linguatuliasis is extremely rare, but it has been reported in the United States and Israel. The objective of the present paper was to report the first case of ocular linguatuliasis in Ecuador and to extend the morphologic study of L. serrata by morphometric analysis. The patient studied was a 34-year old woman from Guayaquil, Ecuador who complained of ocular pain with conjunctivitis and visual difficulties of two-months duration. Biomicroscopic examination revealed a mobile body in the anterior chamber of the eye. The mobile body was surgically removed. The specimen was fixed in alcohol, cleared using the technique of Loos, stained with acetic carmine, and mounted on balsam between a slide and a coverslip. It was observed with stereoscopic and common light microscopes in combination with an automatic system for image analysis and processing. The morphologic and morphometric characteristics corresponded to the third-instar larval form of L. serrata. To our knowledge, ocular linguatuliasis has not been previously described in South America, with this being the first report for Ecuador and South America. The present study shows that computer morphometry can adequately contribute both to the morphologic study and to the systematic classification of Pentastomids, and L. serrata in particular.

Occurrence of Linguatula serrata nymphs in cattle slaughtered in Tabriz, Iran

“…Infections with L. serrata in human cases have been reported from Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East (Beaver et al 1984;El-Hassan et al 1991;Lazo et al 1999;Siavashi et al 2002). Several studies have been conducted on the prevalence of L. serrata in dogs (Tavassoli et al 2007;Meshgi and Asgarian 2003;Oryan et al 2008), camels (Oryan et al 1993;Shakerian et al 2008;Haddadzadeh et al 2009), buffaloes (Tajik et al 2008), goats (Saiyari et al 1996;Razavi et al 2004) and sheep Tavassoli et al 2007).…”

Prevalence of Linguatula serrata nymphs in slaughtered sheeps in Isfahan province, southwest of Iran

“…Man can be infected with both adult and nymphal stages of L. serrata (Tabibian et al 2012). Linguatulosis in humans has been reported from various parts of the world, particularly in countries of the Middle East, Africa, America and in Southeast Asia (Gardiner et al 1984;Acha and Szyfres 2003;Baird et al 1988;El-Hassan et al 1991;Yagi et al 1996;Lazo et al 1999). Nasopharyngeal linguatulosis, which is known as Halzoun or Marrara syndrome, is the common form of infection in man and is often produced following consumption of raw or undercooked infected viscera (liver, lung and lymph nodes) of infected animals (El-Hassan et al 1991;Beaver et al 1984;Drabick 1987).…”

A Nasopharyngeal Human Infestation Caused by Linguatula serrata Nymphs in Van Province: A Case Report

“…Nasopharyngeal infestation has been reported in Turkey (2), Egypt (10) and Iran (6). This infestation is produced by ingestion of nymphs or third-instar larvae together with food, such as raw or semi-raw intermediate host liver or lymph nodes (1)(2)(3)5). Although our patient stated that she did not eat raw or semi-raw meat, it is known that women in the Van province habitually taste meals before or during cooking, as do women in other parts of Turkey.…”

“…The infections have been reported in Asia, America, Europe, Russia, Africa and some the Middle East and Arab countries (2,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). The infection is acquired by ingesting raw vegetables or water contaminated with eggs of the parasite or by consuming uncooked infected liver or visceral lymph nodes of herbivorous mammals (1,2,5). When infected raw meat is eaten, the nymphs settle into the liver and visceral lymph nodes and may attach to nasopharyngeal mucous membranes.…”