Crenosoma vulpis, the fox lungworm, in a dog in Ireland.

Crenosoma vulpis is a metastrongylid parasite of worldwide distribution, which inhabits the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles of many Canidae. The pathogenesis of crenosomiosis in the dog has been described by Stockdale and Hulland (1970). They note that transmission of infection is effected by ingestion of land snails or slugs harbouring the infective third-stage larvae, and that larval migration to the lungs is via the portal circulation and the liver. Since the first report in a domestic dog in the UK (Cobb and Fisher 1992) there have been very few cases of crenosomiosis in dogs recorded in the literature. This short communication reports what the authors believe is the first case in a dog in Ireland. A one-year-old cavalier King Charles spaniel from Northern Ireland was examined after a failure to respond to amoxycillin and clavulanic acid (Synulox; Pfizer) at a dose of 12·5 mg/kg bodyweight twice daily, for a suspected infectious tracheobronchitis of several days duration. The dog had a productive cough and dribbled saliva, which was occasionally mucopurulent in character. Its respiratory rate was elevated (35/minute) and it was slightly hyperpnoeic. On examination, both tonsils were markedly enlarged, and a soft moist cough was elicited by tracheal palpation. On auscultation, the dog had increased lung sounds over the entire lung fields. Routine blood examination revealed a mild non-regenerative anaemia, with a packed-cell volume of 29·7 per cent (normal range 37 to 55 per cent) and haemoglobin concentration of 10·7 g/dl (normal range 12 to 18 g/dl), and a hyperglobulinaemia of 53 g/litre (normal range 23 to 38 g/litre). Under general anaesthesia, plain lateral and ventrodorsal thoracic radiographs were obtained with the lungs inflated. These revealed a normal cardiac outline and the presence of an ill-defined and irregular increase in patchy infiltrates throughout the lungs which was most striking in the diaphragmatic lobes (Fig 1). The predominant pattern was alveolar, with some small nodular-like densities in places. Bronchoscopic examination revealed a hyperaemic trachea, and a mucopurulent exudate affecting the lower bronchi. No parasites were visible grossly, but cytological examination of fluid collected by bronchoalveolar lavage confirmed the presence of a parasitic bronchitis. The airway cytology revealed a moderate to severe, chroniShort Communications