Dirofilariasis presenting as a breast lump

Dirofilariasis is now recognized as a zoonosis. Infection of humans occurs when a mosquito that has obtained larvae-containing blood from an infected animal transmits the larvae, after they have developed to the infective stage, to a human. Dirofilarial infections in humans have been reported from around the world. In this paper a case is reported in which subcutaneous dirofilariasis in a human presented as a lump in the breast. The epidemiologic and pathogenetic features of this disease are discussed.