Fly-borne parasitic disease: risk for the travelling pet
Abstract
An owner travelling with a pet in continental Europe must consider its hypersensitivity to fly bites. Sandfly transmitted Leishmania infantum causes severe, potentially fatal disease with possible relapses, and control using fly repellents and management does not totally prevent infection. Mosquito-borne Dirofilaria immitis heartworm causes insidious, becoming severe disease in dogs and sometimes cats, also ferrets, and control requires monthly macrocyclic lactone prophylaxis. Dirofilaria repens and Thelazia callipaeda are described. All are zoonoses, present in humans infected by flies, but Leishmania potentially could be acquired from a pet.
Although many species of flies occur in the UK, climate dictates that fly-borne transmission of parasites to pets is not important. Nonetheless, fly-borne diseases are migrating
Mosquitoes and sandflies can sensitize pets with their saliva. They tend to bite around the muzzle, eyes, ear pinna, abdomen; the bite can be slightly painful but fleeting. It is not common to see flies biting. Once sensitized, there will be immediate wheal and flare reactions and/or delayed, reddish papules. Both will be pruritic for several days, and induce scratching, biting and self excoriation. The sandfly season is considered to be April to November; low level mosquito activity can continue through winter in some southern areas (Hnilica, 2011).
Phlebotomus female sandflies transmit Leishmania (Figure 1). Sandflies acquire Leishmania in infected cells ingested from the skin and blood of dogs. The Leishmania multiply asexually as promastigotes (elongate, unicellular forms with a single flagellum emerging anteriorly) in the midgut of the sandfly. These then move forward to the mouthparts for injection into the dog. Leishmania is an important human disease, yet details on sandfly biology are sparse. Eggs are laid and development occurs in organically rich, moist soils, i.e. Mediterranean shrub and forest (oak) at an altitude of 100–1200 m above sea level, in rodent or rabbit burrows in the leaf litter and soil, using animal faeces for development. Earthen floors of stables, chicken coops, rubbish in cellars might provide breeding areas, and certainly provide cool, humid sites where adult sandflies rest in the day, as
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