Human case of Onchocerca dewittei japonica infection in Fukushima, Northeastern Honshu, Japan

Fukuda M 1 , Uni S 2 , Igari T 3 , Utsumi Y 4 , Otsuka Y 5 , Nakatani J 6 Show all authors , Uga S 7 , Hara T 8 , Hasegawa H 9 , Takaoka H 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute for Research Promotion, Oita University, Oita 879-5593, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, Kobe Women's University, Kobe 650-0046, Japan
  • 3 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ohara General Hospital, Fukushima 960-8611, Japan
  • 4 Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Ohara General Hospital, Fukushima 960-8611, Japan
  • 5 Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
  • 6 Agriculture Research Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8666, Japan
  • 7 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, Kobe Women's University, Kobe 650-0046, Japan
  • 8 Department of Parasitology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume 830-0011, Japan
  • 9 Department of Infectious Disease Control, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Oita 879-5593, Japan
  • 10 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Parasitol Int, 2019 Oct;72:101943.
PMID: 31220633 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2019.101943

Abstract

A 73-year-old man living in Kawamata-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, Northeastern Honshu, Japan, visited a hospital with complaints of a subcutaneous swelling that had developed on the back of his left hand. The nodule was surgically removed from the vagina fibrosa tendinis of his left forefinger. Based on the histopathological characteristics, the causative agent of this nodule was identified as a female Onchocerca dewittei japonica (Spirurida: Onchocercidae). The species identification was confirmed by cox1 gene sequencing of the worm tissues from paraffin-embedded sections of the nodule. Although 11 cases of zoonotic onchocercosis have previously been recorded in Kyushu and Western Honshu, Japan, the present findings represent the first human case of infection with O. dewittei japonica in Northeastern Honshu, Japan.

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

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