OBJECTIVE: To understand the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of human ocular thelaziasis patients in China. METHODS: Case reports regarding human ocular thelaziasis cases in China were retrieved in international and national electronic databases, including CNKI, VIP, CBM, Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, Wanfang Database, PubMed and Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. Patients' gender, age, clinical symptoms, treatment, recurrence, site of infections, time of onset, affected eye, affected sites, number of infected Thelazia callipaeda, sex of T. callipaeda and source of infections were extracted for descriptive analyses. RESULTS: A total of 85 eligible publications were included, covering 101 cases of human ocular thelaziasis, including 57 males (56.44%) and 44 females (43.56%) and aged from 3 months to 85 years. The main clinical manifestations included foreign body sensation (56 case-times, 22.49%), eye itching (38 case-times, 15.26%), abnormal or increased secretions (36 case-times, 14.46%), tears (28 case-times, 11.24%) and eye redness (28 case-times, 11.24%), and conjunctival congestion (50 case-times, 41.67%) was the most common clinical sign. The most common main treatment (99/101, 98.02%) was removal of parasites from eyes using ophthalmic forceps, followed by administration with ofloxacin and pranoprofen. In publications presenting thelaziasis recurrence, there were 90 cases without recurrence (97.83%) and 2 cases with recurrence (2.17%). Of all cases, 51.96% were reported in four provinces of Hubei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei and Henan, and ocular thelaziasis predominantly occurred in summer (42.19%) and autumn (42.19%). In addition, 56.45% (35/62) had a contact with dogs. CONCLUSIONS The human thelaziasis cases mainly occur in the continental monsoon and subtropical monsoon climate areas such as the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basin, and people of all ages and genders have the disease, with complex clinical symptoms and signs. Personal hygiene is required during the contact with dogs, cats and other animals, and individual protection is required during outdoor activities to prevent thelaziasis.
Animals ; Dogs ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Bibliometrics ; China/epidemiology* ; Seasons ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology* ; Thelazioidea ; Eye Diseases/parasitology*

Dung beetles (family Scarabaeidae) are one of the largest families of beetles worldwide. Due to biological behavior of these arthropods, they are considered to play an important role in the life cycle of some helminths. In the present study, dung beetles collected from cattle pastures in rural areas of Ardabil province, north-west of Iran were examined for infection with larval stages of helminths. According to the results, nematodes of 2 genera were identified including Rhabditis and Gongylonema. The more common species was Rhabditis sp. which was found in 9 species of beetles. Out of 15 different species of dung beetles, Copris lunaris was the only scarabaeid to be found naturally infected with the larval stages of Gongylonema sp. Our new findings introduce C. lunaris as a potential biological vector for transmission of Gongylonema sp. to vertebrates in the surveyed region.
Animals ; Arthropod Vectors/*parasitology ; Beetles/*parasitology ; Humans ; Iran/epidemiology ; Larva/physiology ; Rhabditoidea/isolation & purification/physiology ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology/parasitology/*transmission ; Spiruroidea/isolation & purification/*physiology

The present study was performed to describe 2 cases of human thelaziasis (HT) which occurred in Gyeongsangnam- do and to briefly review the previously reported Korean cases. A 58-year old woman, residing in Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, came to Gyeongsang National University Hospital (GNUH) complaining of foreign body sensation and itching of the right eye in March 2000. Total 6 adult nematodes of Thelazia callipaeda (2 males and 4 females) were detected in her right eye. A 80-year old man, residing in Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, came to GNUH complaining of foreign body sensation, itching, and pain of the right eye in December 2007. A total of 5 worms (4 females and 1 degenerated) were removed from his right eye. We analyzed characteristics of the total 39 Korean HT cases reported to date, including the present 2 cases. Most of the cases (71.8%) occurred in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do before 2000, and 21 cases (53.8%) were males and 18 (46.2%) were females. The prevalence was higher in younger ages below 30 years (48.7%) than 31-60 years (41.0%) and over 61 years (10.3%). The seasonal prevalence showed a higher incidence in autumn (43.6%) than in other seasons. Most of the cases (94.9%) were conjunctival sac infections and only 2 (5.1%) were intraocular cases. The present 2 HT cases are the first reported cases in Gyeongsangnam-do. Some characteristics of Korean HT cases were analyzed.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Eye Infections/*diagnosis/epidemiology/parasitology/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Seasons ; Spirurida Infections/*diagnosis/epidemiology/parasitology/*pathology ; Thelazioidea/*isolation & purification ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo verify houseflies Musca spp. as the intermediate host of Thelazia callipaeda and reveal epidemiological situation of thelaziasis in Hubei province.

METHODSDogs eyes infected with T. callipaeda, 400 houseflies Musca and 259 fruitflies Amiota okadai in the city of Laohekou city (previously named as Guanghua county) of Hubei province had been investigated since September 2000. The newborn larvae of T. callipaeda from Laohekou suburbs were fed to houseflies Musca and A. okadai. Larvae used for the study were isolated from female T. callipaeda in laboratory and the susceptibility to houseflies Musca and A. okadai was observed.

RESULTSTwenty-one dogs from Laohekou, the original epidemic areas of thelaziasis were examined and 7 positive dogs in 21 (33.3%) and 11 T. callipaeda (9 females and 2 males) were identified. From 1975 to 2000, no thelaziasis cases were found through retrospective surveys. These 200 houseflies Musca and 135 A. okadai were dissected for examination but showed all negative with the infection. However, newborn larvae of T. callipaeda were used to experimentally infect 112 houseflies Musca and 84 A. okadai and all infected flies were examined on the 20th day after inoculation. As a consequence, houseflies Musca failed to be infected but 9 in 84 (10.7%) A. okadai were positive. 26 infective larvae of T. callipaeda were obtained and 21 of them were inoculated into right eye of one rabbit. The female worm began to produce newborn larvae in 37 days after infection and 3 adult T. callipaeda (two females and one male) were obtained.

CONCLUSIONSFruitflies A. okadai from Hubei province were susceptible to T. callipaeda, which was similar to the result of experimental studies in Anhui province. This survey further confirmed that A. okadai was the intermediate host of T. callipaeda but not houseflies Musca. Infective resources (adult dogs, for instance) had been under controlled thus human thelaziasis had been eradicated in this rural area.

Animals ; Conjunctivitis ; parasitology ; Disease Reservoirs ; Dog Diseases ; parasitology ; Dogs ; Drosophila ; parasitology ; Eye Infections, Parasitic ; epidemiology ; transmission ; veterinary ; Female ; Host-Parasite Interactions ; Houseflies ; parasitology ; Humans ; Insect Vectors ; parasitology ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Spirurida Infections ; epidemiology ; transmission ; veterinary ; Thelazioidea ; isolation & purification ; physiology

The reservoir hosts of Thelazia callipaeda were examined. The eyes of the 76 dogs raised at farm, 78 military dogs (shepherds), 96 cattle, and 105 pigs were investigated for the presence of eyeworm. Among them, six worms of T. callipaeda were collected from two dogs raised at farm (2.7%), and 188 worms from 26 shepherds (33.5%). No worms were recovered from the cattle or pigs. These results suggest that the dogs, especially the military dogs are serving as a reservoir host of T. callipaeda. in Korea.
Animals ; Cattle ; Disease Reservoirs/*veterinary ; Dog Diseases/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Dogs ; Eye/parasitology ; Female ; *Host-Parasite Interactions ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Prevalence ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary ; Swine ; Thelazioidea/*isolation & purification