Zoonotic infection with Onchocerca dewittei japonica in an 11-year-old boy in Kansai Region, Western Honshu, Japan
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
An 11-year-old boy living in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, Kansai Region, Western Honshu, Japan had zoonotic onchocercosis. The patient developed a painful swelling on the little finger of his left hand. The worm detected in the excised mass had external transverse ridges but did not have inner striae in the cuticle. On the basis of the parasite's histopathological characteristics, the causative agent was identified as a female Onchocerca dewittei japonica (Spirurida: Onchocercidae). The species of the filarial parasite was confirmed by sequencing the cox1 gene of the parasite. The Japanese wild boar Sus scrofa leucomystax is a definitive host for O. dewittei japonica, which is then transmitted by blackflies as the vector to humans. The current case described occurred in the Kansai Region, Western Honshu, where such infections were previously not reported.
Keywords
Emerging infectious disease, Filarial parasite, Japanese wild boar, Onchocercosis, Transverse ridges, Vector-borne disease
Divisions
InstituteofBiologicalSciences
Funders
Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (FRGS FP020-2012 for SU),JSPS KAKENHI (Grant No. 15K07781 for MF)
Publication Title
Parasitology International
Volume
66
Issue
5
Publisher
Elsevier