Case Report
Oestrus ovis L. (Diptera: Oestridae) Induced
Nasal Myiasis in a Dog from Northern Italy
Sergio A. Zanzani,
1
Luigi Cozzi,
1
Emanuela Olivieri,
2
Alessia L. Gazzonis,
1
and Maria Teresa Manfredi
1
1
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Universit` a degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Universit` a degli Studi di Perugia, Via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Correspondence should be addressed to Sergio A. Zanzani; sergio.zanzani@unimi.it
Received 30 April 2016; Accepted 4 July 2016
Academic Editor: Sheila C. Rahal
Copyright © 2016 Sergio A. Zanzani et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
A companion dog from Milan province (northern Italy), presenting with frequent and violent sneezing, underwent rhinoscopy,
laryngoscopy, and tracheoscopy procedures. During rhinoscopy, a dipteran larva was isolated from the dog and identiied as irst
instar larval stage of O. ovis by morphological features. Reports of O. ovis in domestic carnivores are sporadic and nevertheless this
infestion should be considered as a possible diferential diagnosis of rhinitis in domestic carnivores living in contaminated areas by
the ly as consequence of the presence of sheep and goats. his report described a case of autochthonous infestion in a dog from an
area where O. ovis was not historically present but it could be afected by a possible expansion of the ly as a consequence of climate
change. his is the irst record of Oestrus ovis infestion in a dog in Italy and, at the same time, the most northerly inding of larvae
of sheep bot ly in the country.
1. Introduction
Oestrus ovis L. (Diptera: Oestridae), a sheep nasal bot ly,
afects sheep and goats worldwide and, particularly, in areas
where adult lies can be active all the year round thanks to
favourable climatic conditions [1]. In central and southern
Italy prevalence of infestion in sheep is high: 55.8%, 72.8%,
and 91% of infected sheep were observed during necropsies
in Sicily [2], Tuscany [3], and Sardinia [4], respectively.
Zoonotic infestions sustained by O. ovis are numerous and
difused all over the world. In Italy, O. ovis infestions in
humans were irst described in Sicily in the 19th century
[5] and several infestions have been reported even in more
recent years, mostly in southern rural areas [6]. Sporadic
descriptions of zoonotic infestions by O. ovis are reported
also in central [7] and northern Italy [8, 9] as well as in an
urban area [10]. O. ovis infestions in ovine and humans in the
most northerly parts of Italy are reported below 45 degrees
north latitude: in Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, and northern
Tuscany. Reports of O. ovis infestions in domestic carnivores
are sporadic [11–16] and have not been yet described in Italy.
he aim of the present study is to describe an autochthonous
case of O. ovis infestion in a companion dog bred in northern
Italy.
2. Case Presentation
In July 2015, an 8-month-old female of Stafordshire Bull
Terrier, housed in Milan province (northern Italy) and pur-
chased from an Italian dog breeder, was taken to a veterinary
clinic on account of her frequent and violent sneezing that
lasts for two days. During anamnestic data collection, the
owner reported that sneezing occurred ater the dog had been
taken for a walk in a rural area close to his house. At clinical
examination the bitch also presented stertorous and reversal
sneezing. Anamnesis, dog breed, and symptoms made clin-
icians suspect a nasal foreign body and/or a brachycephalic
airway obstructive syndrome (BAOS). No antimicrobial or
anti-inlammatory therapies were being administered to the
dog. he bitch was then anesthetized for laryngoscopy, tra-
cheoscopy, and anterior and posterior rhinoscopy. Laryngeal
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Veterinary Medicine
Volume 2016, Article ID 5205416, 4 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5205416