We have a nematode infestation in Poland – warn veterinarians. They are echoed by those who heal us – humans, because these parasites cause heartworm disease, which is also dangerous for humans. The disease was common in tropical countries, now it has settled in Europe. Climate warming is to blame for everything.
I found out about heartworm disease by accident. Before my dog’s dental treatment, the doctors examined his blood for microfilariae.
“What the hell is that?” – I asked.
– It is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes – doctors from Vet Care in Pruszków explained to me. – Mosquitoes carry parasites that nest in a dog’s body. In your dog’s case, they infected him with a variety of nematodes called Dirofilaria rapens, which nestles under the pet’s skin causing lumps, itching and inflammation. With time, if left untreated, the disease may lead to the parasites entering the blood, blocking the arteries (ed. – adult parasites can reach up to 30 cm in length) and an embolism that may be life-threatening for the dog.
As I read later, the larvae which, along with the mosquito’s saliva, enter the pet’s body, pass through the subcutaneous tissue, and then travel with the blood to the lungs, where after 3,5 to 7 months they reach sexual maturity and produce microfilariae.
Vet Care vets immediately applied the appropriate therapy to fight the nematodes. Untreated dogs can harbor the nematodes for up to 7 years. So my pooch got a preparation rubbed into the skin, applied once a month. Unfortunately, the treatment is long, because it lasts a whole year and does not guarantee immunity to further infections. It’s scary to think how much the disease has spread in five years. According to the information from the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene from 2012, as many as 20% of nematodes were infected in shelters and farms in the western part of Mazovia. dogs. My dog comes from one of these shelters.
Is it dangerous to people?
I immediately asked the specialists from the Pruszków clinic.
“Yes,” they replied. – The second host for these nematodes besides the dog can be humans. But the disease does not spread from pet to owner, or from person to person. It is always mediated by a mosquito. Unfortunately, in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship there are quite a lot of mosquitoes that transmit these nematodes. Which means that you may also be infected, but to check it you would have to do a special blood test for this.
I was told that heartworm disease is not as dangerous for humans as it is for animals, as parasites do not develop in the human body, but can only migrate under the skin and nest under it, where it is killed, by the human immune system. Then a specific lump forms on the body, which is removed surgically together with the dead worm, which basically means a cure. Nevertheless, I decided to follow the topic and …
Dilofilariosis in humans
It turned out that in Poland in recent years cases of heartworm disease caused by nematodes of the species Dirofilaria rapens have already been reported. However, in addition to subcutaneous invasion, there was also a submucosa, where the parasite lodged under the conjunctiva of the eye.
“Terrible,” I thought, but the worse news was that the nematode also had a second type of it that was much more dangerous to humans, namely Dirofilaria immitis.
As Dr. Magdalena Rogalska from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology explains on the mp.pl portal
University Clinical Hospital in Białystok, Dirofilaria immitis infection is usually associated with the presence of a round shadow in the lungs indicating human pulmonary dirofilariasis (HPD).
– But it also causes skin or conjunctival disease, and occasionally nodular changes in the liver, eosinophilic meningitis, infection of the eyeball, intra-abdominal fat or testes – the udder. – Most patients (60%) with pulmonary heartworm disease do not present clinical symptoms, but when they do occur, they are usually localized pain behind the breastbone, cough, hemoptysis, wheezing in the chest, moderate fever, chills, general weakness. When the parasite is located in the eyeball, the disease is accompanied by eye pain and the presence of floaters or scotomas in front of the eyes.
So far, there are no reports of infections with this species of parasite in Poland, but experts believe that it is only a matter of time that it will settle in our country as readily as D. rapens.
Where did it come from?
The first cases of infection were recorded in Poland 10 years ago. Initially, it was thought that the disease was brought to Poland by tourists, namely Poles, who traveled with their pets to countries warmer than Poland, where the summer temperature does not drop below 14 degrees C, which automatically inhibits the development of the parasite. So far, heartworm disease has been known primarily in North Africa and in Europe in the Mediterranean regions. Unfortunately, global warming caused the disease to spread, because the parasite, which needs a minimum temperature of 18 degrees C to develop, began to have excellent conditions for this also in other European countries. So, when only a few years ago he was spoken of in Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Portugal, today he has become a permanent resident of Poland and Germany. People are also infected in Ukraine, where up to several hundred cases are reported annually.
What viruses may appear in Poland soon?
And what’s next?
No matter how much we deny the climate change on Earth, it is a fact, and nature lets us know about it, among other things, through the migration of hitherto exotic diseases to our native areas. This should, above all, encourage us to fight for the environment and stop unfavorable changes. However, since we already have unwanted “strangers” in Poland who feel perfectly comfortable in our present climate, we should pay special attention to prevention.
Protect your pets against mosquitoes, spray these insects around the house, use mosquito nets, and during trips to the forest, cover and spray yourself and your pets with deterrent sprays. Intensify preventive measures, especially in the months of June to September.
It is also worth examining your pets for heartworm disease. If one animal is infected with it, there is a high probability that another that lives in our home also has it. Cats tolerate the disease better than dogs, but in them, too, the parasite must be treated so that it does not spread to others.
Ticks. What is the risk of being bitten?
And if you discover a lump on your breast, armpits or elsewhere on your body, don’t panic, it doesn’t have to be a tumor, but a disgusting but much less dangerous nematode.
If you want to learn more about the nematode infestation process, I recommend the article Drug. vet. Piotr Krzysztof Smentek: https://cowsierscipiszczy.pl/dirofilarioza/