Dirofilaria immitis heartworm infections in Hungarian zoo animals

Alexandra Biácsi; János Gál; Sándor Hornok; Endre Sós; Péter Kertész; László Bakonyi; Edit Venczel; Gábor Majoros; Nóra Takács; Sándor Szekeres; Adrienn Gréta Tóth; Domenico Otranto; Gergő Keve

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101254

Dirofilaria immitis heartworm infections in Hungarian zoo animals

Alexandra Biácsi
, János Gál
, Sándor Hornok
, Endre Sós
, Péter Kertész
, László Bakonyi
, Edit Venczel
, Gábor Majoros
, Nóra Takács
, Sándor Szekeres
, Adrienn Gréta Tóth
, Domenico Otranto
, Gergő Keve^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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Abstract

Dirofilaria immitis is a worldwide spread, mosquito-borne nematode of zoonotic concern, with domestic and wild canids serving as the main reservoirs of the infection in Europe. In this study we describe eleven cases of cardiovascular dirofilariosis in Hungarian zoos, including three Eurasian wolves (Canis lupus lupus), two Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), an African lion (Panthera leo), an African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), a Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), and an Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus). Heartworm disease presumably contributed to the deaths of three Eurasian wolves, one Red panda, one Arctic fox and one Harbour seal, as indicated by necropsy results, whereas the remaining infections were regarded as incidental findings. These cases represent the first documented occurrence of D. immitis in captive felids in Hungary and the first report of D. immitis in Arctic wolves. The present case series provides data about host range of dirofilariosis and discusses their potential role as reservoirs of the infection in autochthonous wild animals in Europe underlining the need for implemented surveillance and preventive strategies in zoo animal populations. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Original language	English
Article number	101254
Journal	International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Volume	30
Online published	16 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101254
Publication status	Published - Aug 2026
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Financial support was provided by the Office for Supported Research Groups, Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN), Hungary (Project No. 1500107). The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Róbert Farkas and Dr. Mariaelisa Carbonara for their valuable contributions. We also extend our thanks to everyone who contributed to this work, as well as to the reviewers for their insightful feedback.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 15 Life on Land

Research Keywords

Dirofilaria immitis
Exotic animals
heartworm
Veterinary case report
Zoo animals

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101254

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title = "Dirofilaria immitis heartworm infections in Hungarian zoo animals",

abstract = "Dirofilaria immitis is a worldwide spread, mosquito-borne nematode of zoonotic concern, with domestic and wild canids serving as the main reservoirs of the infection in Europe. In this study we describe eleven cases of cardiovascular dirofilariosis in Hungarian zoos, including three Eurasian wolves (Canis lupus lupus), two Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), an African lion (Panthera leo), an African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), a Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), and an Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus). Heartworm disease presumably contributed to the deaths of three Eurasian wolves, one Red panda, one Arctic fox and one Harbour seal, as indicated by necropsy results, whereas the remaining infections were regarded as incidental findings. These cases represent the first documented occurrence of D. immitis in captive felids in Hungary and the first report of D. immitis in Arctic wolves. The present case series provides data about host range of dirofilariosis and discusses their potential role as reservoirs of the infection in autochthonous wild animals in Europe underlining the need for implemented surveillance and preventive strategies in zoo animal populations. {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",

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AU - Biácsi, Alexandra

AU - Gál, János

AU - Hornok, Sándor

AU - Sós, Endre

AU - Kertész, Péter

AU - Bakonyi, László

AU - Venczel, Edit

AU - Majoros, Gábor

AU - Takács, Nóra

AU - Szekeres, Sándor

AU - Tóth, Adrienn Gréta

AU - Otranto, Domenico

AU - Keve, Gergő

PY - 2026/8

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N2 - Dirofilaria immitis is a worldwide spread, mosquito-borne nematode of zoonotic concern, with domestic and wild canids serving as the main reservoirs of the infection in Europe. In this study we describe eleven cases of cardiovascular dirofilariosis in Hungarian zoos, including three Eurasian wolves (Canis lupus lupus), two Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), an African lion (Panthera leo), an African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), a Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), and an Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus). Heartworm disease presumably contributed to the deaths of three Eurasian wolves, one Red panda, one Arctic fox and one Harbour seal, as indicated by necropsy results, whereas the remaining infections were regarded as incidental findings. These cases represent the first documented occurrence of D. immitis in captive felids in Hungary and the first report of D. immitis in Arctic wolves. The present case series provides data about host range of dirofilariosis and discusses their potential role as reservoirs of the infection in autochthonous wild animals in Europe underlining the need for implemented surveillance and preventive strategies in zoo animal populations. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

AB - Dirofilaria immitis is a worldwide spread, mosquito-borne nematode of zoonotic concern, with domestic and wild canids serving as the main reservoirs of the infection in Europe. In this study we describe eleven cases of cardiovascular dirofilariosis in Hungarian zoos, including three Eurasian wolves (Canis lupus lupus), two Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), an African lion (Panthera leo), an African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), a Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), and an Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus). Heartworm disease presumably contributed to the deaths of three Eurasian wolves, one Red panda, one Arctic fox and one Harbour seal, as indicated by necropsy results, whereas the remaining infections were regarded as incidental findings. These cases represent the first documented occurrence of D. immitis in captive felids in Hungary and the first report of D. immitis in Arctic wolves. The present case series provides data about host range of dirofilariosis and discusses their potential role as reservoirs of the infection in autochthonous wild animals in Europe underlining the need for implemented surveillance and preventive strategies in zoo animal populations. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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KW - Veterinary case report

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DO - 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101254

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SN - 2213-2244

VL - 30

JO - International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

JF - International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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ER -

Dirofilaria immitis heartworm infections in Hungarian zoo animals

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

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