Dirofilaria repens Railliet et Henry, 1911--a new parasite acclimatized in Poland

Dirofilariosis caused by the Dirofilaria repens nematodes is widely dispersed in southern Europe, Asia and Africa among dogs, cats, other carnivores and occasionally, humans. The first case of D. repens infection, found in Poland in 2007, concerned humans. In 2009, dirofilariosis was first registered in dogs in 3 focuses in central Poland, Warsaw, Pruszków and Zyrardów, whose range grew considerably with the subsequent identification of D. repens microfilariae in 119 dogs in Warsaw and 18 districts of the Mazowieckie Province. The microfilariae of D. repens were found in blood samples taken from 1588 dogs from all 16 provinces of Poland. D. repens was also recently detected in a mixture of Culex pipiens and Aedes vexans mosquitoes collected in Mazowieckie Province using Real Time PCR. The results of this study confirms the acclimatisation of D. repens on the territory of Poland and a possibility for it to close its life cycle in domestic species of mosquito.