Clinical studies on bovine autumnal conjunctivitis in Japan

Subconjunctival setariasis due to Setaria equina infection; a case report and a literature review

A rare case of human subconjunctival setariasis due to Setaria equina infection is reported herein. A 15-years old girl was referred with a 24h history of edema and redness in her left eye. On slit lamp examination, a thread-like cylindrical worm was moving in the subconjunctival area. The worm was extracted, stained and measured 110mm in length 510μm in width. The isolated worm was identified as adult female S. equina based on morphometric criteria. Identification of the species of the worm was confirmed using molecular methods. For this purpose, the 12S rRNA gene was PCR-amplified and the purified amplicon was directly sequenced. After alignment, phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 12S rRNA sequence of this worm (Accession no.: KU291446) showed 100% identity with that of S. equina. This is the first case in Iran and provides evidence that S. equina can be an etiological agent of subconjunctival infection was isolated and diagnosed as where it located Middle East.

Morphological characterization of Setaria worms collected from cattle

Morphological characters of Setaria sp. collected from cattle and buffaloes were studied. Three species Setaria digitata, Setaria cervi and Setaria labiatopapillosa were identified in the present study. Out of the 500 cattle screened 187 were found to harbour worms. 56.8 % (106) of animals with S. digitata, 24.13 % (45) had S. cervi and 18.96 % (36) had S. labiatopapillosa. Morphological characters of male and female worms of all the three species were studied in detail.

Cerebrospinal Setariosis with Setaria marshalli and Setaria digitata infection in Cattle

Setaria digitata and S. marshalli larvae were observed in the cerebrospinal cavity of 2 paralyzed cattle in Taiwan. The 2 affected cattle showed quadriplegia and lumbar paralysis, respectively. At necropsy, which was performed 7 days after the 7-month-old cattle became quadriplegic, three and nineteen S. marshalli larvae as well as two female adult worms were found in the cranial cavity, spinal cavity and peritoneal cavity of the cattle, respectively. Necropsy on the other 8-month-old cattle was also performed 3 days after it showed lumbar paralysis, and ten S. digitata larvae were found in the spinal cavity. In both cattle, many mononuclear inflammatory cells mixed with a few eosinophils were seen accumulated in the connective tissue around the root of the spinal nerves. Infiltration of eosinophils and mononuclear inflammatory cells into the epidura and arachnoidea of the brain were also observed. The major inflammatory cell was lymphocytes, but neutrophils and eosinophils were also present. The number of cells in the cerebrospinal fluid collected initially from the two affected cattle were 105/0.01 ml and 143/ 0.01 ml, respectively. This is the first report of cerebrospinal setariosis in cattle associated with S. marshalli.