Clinical evidence of nasal eucoleosis in dogs from central Italy

In the past few years the respiratory nematode Eucoleus boehmi has been increasingly reported in dogs from Europe, including Italy. Nonetheless, knowledge of the clinical importance of this parasitosis in canine practice is still poor. The present work describes 20 clinical cases of canine nasal eucoleosis (CNE) from Central Italy in 2012-2013, to provide new insights into the clinical features of the infection and to promote an appropriate awareness among veterinarians. Twenty dogs, scored positive for E. boehmi eggs at copromicroscopical examination, were selected and history details and clinical data were collected. Most of the infected animals (70%) consisted on hunting dogs which lived in rural or suburban areas of central Italy. All parasitised dogs showed different clinical pictures, being nasal discharge (16/20) the most frequent sign, followed by repeated sneering (11/20) and cough (7/20). Other respiratory signs, i.e. epistaxis, and impairment of scenting ability were observed. These results confirm that E. boehmi has a clinical importance on first airway diseases and demonstrate that veterinarians should be vigilant on its occurrence.