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Human ocular onchocerciasis caused by Onchocerca lupi (Spirurida, Onchocercidae) in Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2013

G. Mowlavi ,
F. Farzbod ,
A. Kheirkhah ,
I. Mobedi ,
D.D. Bowman  and
S.R. Naddaf
G. Mowlavi
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
F. Farzbod
Affiliation:
Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
A. Kheirkhah
Affiliation:
Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
I. Mobedi
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
D.D. Bowman
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, New York
S.R. Naddaf*
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
*
* E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Cases of canine onchocerciasis caused by Onchocerca lupi are increasingly reported from Europe and the western United States of America. The zoonotic role of this parasite had already been suspected in Europe as the clinical signs and histopathology seen in two ocular cases from Albania and the Crimean region were very similar to those of canine ocular onchocerciasis. In the most recent reports of human onchocerciasis, O. lupi has been morphologically and molecularly identified as the causative agent of ocular infestation in two patients from Turkey, and one patient from Tunisia. Here, we report an additional case of nodular lesions involving two, and possibly more, immature worms in a patient from Iran. The parasite was found to belong to the genus Onchocerca based on morphological features and the species was confirmed as O. lupi from a partial sequence analysis of 12S ribosomal DNA.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 88 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 250 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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