First case of ocular thelaziosis (Thelazía rhodesi) in fighting bull at the Iberian Peninsula
Abstract
Bovine thelaziosis is caused by Thelazia rhodesi, T. skrjabini and T. gulosa, although the most prevalent species in Europe is the first of them. Thelazia rhodesi is a nematode (order Spirurida, family Thelaziidae) para- sitizing the eye of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and bison and, less frequently, horses and small ruminants. It is located on the corneal surface, under the lids and nictitating membrane and in the conjunctival sac. Thelazia spp. has an indirect life cycle, acting diptera of the family Muscidae as intermediate hosts. This study presents a case of thelaziosis in a fighting bull (Bos taurus), dealt in the bullring of Murcia in September 2014, coming from a farmer located in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. During the first and second veterinary examinations of the animal, abundant tearing was observed, but despite this, the animal reacted positively to visual stimuli made in the visual field of both eyes, jointly and independently. The fighting bull was considered useful during the mentioned veterinary examinations, although it presented constant epiphora. During the fight, no abnormality was observed in the behavior of the bull in relation to the sense of sight. The post mortem ocular inspection in the pit of the square revealed the presence of nematodes 8-20 mm length in both the conjunctival sac and the surface of the cornea, which were extracted using tweezers and preserved in 70% ethanol. The specimens were identified as T. rhodesi according to the morphometric criteria described by Gupta and Kalia (1978) and Naem (2007a, b). This is a nematode species with ocular tropism that can appear in the fighting bull, farms exploited in extensive regime in temperate or warm areas, whose environmental conditions will favor the proliferation of intermediate hosts and the development of parasitosis. Therefore, thelaziosis must be considered in the differential diagnosis of ocular pathologies of fighting bull whose signs include restlessness, decreased visual acuity, epiphora and pruritus in the periocular area. To the knowledge of the authors, no case of Thelazia rho- desi infection has been reported in fighting bull.
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