Threats of vector-borne zoonotic disease in Europe: dogs, drosophilids, and Oriental eye worm

Furthermore, the disease has spread beyond these regions into new areas at more northerly latitudes, including northern Italy2 and Madrid, Spain.3 Like visceral leishmaniasis, canine dirofilariasis, which is caused by mosquito-transmitted filarial worms, is also often diagnosed in southern Mediterranean regions. [...]1999, most cases in human beings originated from Italy, France, Greece, and Spain, but the pattern of this disease has also changed, with autochthonous cases now regularly being reported from northern, central, and eastern Europe.4 Of special note, however, is thelaziosis caused by the spiruroid nematode Thelazia callipaeda. Adult worms develop within the conjunctival sacs and lacrimal glands, and clinical outcomes range from asymptomatic carriage to conjunctivitis, corneal ulceration and, if left untreated, blindness.6 From its first description in Beijing 100 years ago,7T callipaeda has been known as Oriental eye-worm because of its distribution across Asia and the Indian subcontinent, where it is recognised as an emerging problem; more than 1000 confirmed cases in human beings have been recorded in the past 20 years.8 In central China, this neglected disease is prevalent wherever dogs are found, and predictably affects mainly elderly people, children, and other vulnerable individuals in poorer rural areas. [...]the worm seems to be moving from west to east, possibly via the ranging behaviour of foxes, and it appears to be the same haplotype of the parasite, which is distinct from the Asian varieties, that is presently circulating, most recently recorded in Greece.10 This emerging pattern of thelaziosis is not explained simply by increased awareness and surveillance.