Global Climate Change and Human Dirofilariasis in Russia

Abstract

Human dirofilariasis is a vector-borne helminth disease caused by two species of Dirofilaria: D. repens and D. immitis. The vectors of the helminth are mosquitoes in the family Culicidae. The definitive hosts of Dirofilaria are dogs and, to a lesser extent, cats. Humans are accidental hosts. Dirofilariasis has been reported in the territory of Russia since 1915. Sporadic cases of the disease have been reported occasionally, but the number of cases showed a distinct increasing trend in the late 1980s–early 1990s, when the number of cases reached several hundred in the southern territories of Russia, with geographic coordinates of 43° N–45° N. A comparison of the timing of the global trend of climate warming during the 1990s with the temporal pattern of the incidence of dirofilariasis in the territory of Russia indicated a close association between the two phenomena. At present, the northern range of Dirofilaria includes latitudes higher than 58° in both the European and Asian parts of the country. The phenomenon of climate warming in the territory of Russia has shaped the contemporary epidemiology of the disease. The emerging public health problem of dirofilariasis in Russia warrants the establishment of a comprehensive epidemiological monitoring system.