ABSTRACT
Thelazia callipaeda or the oriental eye worm infects a wide variety of hosts including dogs, cats, foxes, rabbits, and humans through the Drosophila flies. We report here a case of a 42-year-old female who presented with pain, redness, and cystic swelling in the right lacrimal sac area for 8 months. Ocular examination was within normal limits. Excision biopsy of the cyst revealed a live worm. In humans, the worm is usually found in the conjunctival sac, lacrimal canaliculi, or the lacrimal sac leading to a disease which can be subclinical or symptomatic. Thus, we report a rare presentation of thelaziasis, that is, periocular involvement. This case presentation is first of its kind in the Indian literature.
ABSTRACT
Objective To identify the genetic variation and possible sources of Thelazia callipaeda isolates collected from pa-tients in Zunyi City,Guizhou Province. Methods Seven cases of T. callipaeda infection in Zunyi City,2016 were verified, and DNA(s)were extracted from the T. callipaeda's body collected from the thelaziasis patients. A mitochondrial COX1 frag-ment was amplified and sequenced. The sequence alignment and phylogenetical analysis were performed to compare the genetic variation of the gene sequence with the homologous sequences downloaded from Genebank. Results COX1 genes of T. callipae-da were differed among the samples from the seven cases,which had low variation. Conclusion Zunyi City is a new area with endemic of thelaziasis. The isolates from Zunyi City include either Asian origin or European origin of T. callipaeda. Moreover,at least four haplotypes are identified among the seven isolates.
ABSTRACT
Thelaziasis is an Arthropod‑born disease of the eye and adnexa caused by Thelazia callipaeda, a nematode parasite transmitted by drosophilid flies to carnivores and humans. Because of its distribution mainly confined to South Asian countries and Russia, it is commonly known as Oriental Eye worm. It is often under‑reported and not been given its due clinical importance. We report first case of human Thelaziasis from Hassan District, Karnataka. Five creamy‑white, translucent worms were removed from the conjunctival sac of a 74‑year‑old male patient. Based on morphological characters, the worms were identified as nematodes belonging to the genus Thelazia and speciation was confirmed by CDC, Atlanta as callipaeda. Rarity of the disease and its ability to cause both extra and intraocular manifestations leading to ocular morbidity is the reason for presenting this case. From the available data, this is the first case report from Karnataka, India.