Background: In Europe, the first Thelazia callipaeda infections were found in the eyes of some dogs in Italy three decades ago. Since that time, this vector-borne nematode species has been diagnosed in domestic and wild carnivores and humans in some western European countries. During the last few years, autochthonous thelaziosis of dogs, red foxes, cats and humans has also been reported from eastern Europe. The first cases of ocular infections caused by T. callipaeda have been described in dogs living in the eastern and southern part of Slovakia and Hungary.
Methods: Whitish parasites found in the conjuctival sac and/or under the third eyelid of one or both eyes of animals were removed and morphologically identified according to species and sex. To confirm the morphological identification with molecular analysis a single step conventional PCR was carried out.
Results: A total of 116 adult worms (1-37 per dog, median: 7, IQR: 14.5 and 7 from a cat) were collected from the eyes of 11 animals. Nematodes were identified as T. callipaeda according to the morphological keys and molecular analysis. The sequences of a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene were identical to those representing T. callipaeda haplotype 1, previously reported in neighbouring and other European countries. Since the infected cat and dogs had never travelled abroad, all of the cases were autochthonous thelaziosis.
Conclusions: The present study reports the first case of thelaziosis in a cat and new cases in 10 dogs found in the southern and northern region of Hungary, respectively. Further studies are needed to clarify whether wild carnivores (e.g. red foxes, golden jackals) may act as reservoirs of this eyeworm species in the country.
Keywords: Cats; Dogs; Thelazia callipaeda; Vector-borne diseases; Zoonosis.