Oral hirudiniasis in a stray dog, first report in Italy

Abstract

In June 2014, a male stray dog was recovered at Ente Nazionale di Protezione Animali (ENPA) kennel of Manfredonia, Apulia region, showing oral bleeding and physical prostration. The dog fell in a water canal and was trapped. During the clinical examination, a specimen of leech was revealed into its oral cavity. The parasite, probably entered by drinking unfiltered and contaminated water, has been identified as an adult of aquatic leech Limnatis nilotica. Leeches could overrun wide variety of animals, and few reports about blood sucking leech infestations in mammals are available in literature. This paper describes here the first oral hirudiniasis in a dog in Italy and highlights the possibility of human nasopharyngeal leech-related infection in Apulia region.