Zoonotic infection with Onchocerca dewittei japonica in an 11-year-old boy in Kansai Region, Western Honshu, Japan

Uni S 1 , Fukuda M 2 , Ogawa K 3 , Lim YA 4 , Agatsuma T 5 , Bunchom N 6 Show all authors , Saijuntha W 7 , Otsuka Y 8 , Bhassu S 9 , Mat Udin AS 10 , Zainuri NA 10 , Omar H 10 , Nakatani J 11 , Matsubayashi M 12 , Maruyama H 13 , Ramli R 10 , Azirun MS 10 , Takaoka H 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Parasitology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 545-8585, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 Research Promotion Institute, Oita University, Oita 879-5598, Japan
  • 3 Otsu Red Cross Hospital, Otsu, Shiga 520-8511, Japan
  • 4 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku 783-8505, Japan
  • 6 Department of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku 783-8505, Japan; Walai Rukhavej Botanical Research Institute, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand
  • 7 Walai Rukhavej Botanical Research Institute, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand
  • 8 Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
  • 9 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Center for Biotechnology in Agriculture, CEBAR, University of Malaya, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 10 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 11 Agricultural Research Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8666, Japan
  • 12 Department of International Prevention of Epidemics, Division of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka 598-8531, Japan
  • 13 Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan
Parasitol Int, 2017 Oct;66(5):593-595.
PMID: 28648713 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2017.06.006

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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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