Dirofilariasis

Dirofilaria are long, thin parasitic roundworms that infect a variety of mammals. Infection is transmitted by mosquito bites. There are many species of Dirofilaria, but human infection is caused most commonly by three species, D. immitis, D. repens, and D. tenuis. There are also several documented reports of Dirofilaria infections worldwide including America, Europe, and Australia. Eosinophilic meningitis in human has also attributed to these filarial nematodes as etiological agent diagnosed by immunofluorescence and arthus hypersensitivity. Inclusively several clinical cases of human dirofilariasis, including 270 pulmonary cases have been reported up to the end of the second millennium.

Heartworm disease treatment in dogs is complex and frequently risky due to the side effects of the massive destruction of worms in the bloodstream. Therefore, it is necessary to choose an appropriate therapeutic strategy, and it may be best to withhold treatment in some cases. The prophylactic treatment of choice in terms of safety and efficacy consists of the administration of macrocyclic lactones such as ivermectin, milbemycinoxime, moxidectin, or selamectin (205, 260, 268).

Descriptive epidemiological studies in the United States and Europe have now established dirofilariasis as an emergent parasitic disease of dogs and man. Global warming has extended the mosquito-vector-borne transmission cycles, enzootic distributions, and canine microfilarial prevalences of the disease to non-endemic regions.