Vet World   Vol.12   October-2019  Article-17

Review Article

Veterinary World, 12(10): 1630-1643

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1630-1643

Vector-borne nematode diseases in pets and humans in the Mediterranean Basin: An update

Djamel Tahir1,2, Bernard Davoust2,3, and Philippe Parola1,2
1. Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France.
2. Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Mediterranee Infection, Marseille, France.
3. Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections, Aix Marseille Univ, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Marseille, Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Mediterranee Infection, Marseille, France.

Background and Aim: Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals. The scale of VBDs is increasing worldwide, including in the Mediterranean Basin, a region exposed to climate changes. Indeed, weather conditions may influence the abundance and distribution of vectors. The vector-borne nematode diseases of dogs and cats, such as dirofilariosis, onchocercosis, thelaziosis, Cercopithifilaria, and Acanthocheilonema infections, are some of these vectorized diseases, several of which are zoonoses. They are all caused by parasitic nematodes transmitted by arthropods, including mosquitoes (Dirofilaria spp.), black flies (Onchocerca lupi), drosophilids (Thelazia callipaeda), ticks (Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides and Cercopithifilaria bainae), and fleas and lice (Acanthocheilonema reconditum). The control and prevention of these infections and diseases require a multidisciplinary approach based on strengthening collaboration between the different actors in the fields of health, research, sociology, economics, governments and citizens, to improve human, animal, and ecosystem health. This is the concept of "one health." The review aimed to provide a general update on the spatial and temporal distribution of vector-borne nematodes diseases affecting companion animals and humans, as well as the vectors involved in the Mediterranean area. Simultaneously, certain epidemiological parameters, diagnosis, treatment, and control of these diseases based on the "one health" concept will also be discussed.

Keywords: arthropods, companion animals, humans, Mediterranean Basin, one health, parasites, vectors, zoonoses.

How to cite this article: Tahir D, Davoust B, Parola P (2019) Vector-borne nematode diseases in pets and humans in the Mediterranean Basin: An update, Veterinary World, 12(10): 1630-1643.

Received: 03-06-2019  Accepted: 09-09-2019     Published online: 26-10-2019

Corresponding author: Philippe Parola   E-mail: philippe.parola@univ-amu.fr

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1630-1643

Copyright: Tahir, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.