FILAROIDES-HIRTHI VERMINOUS PNEUMONIA IN A WEST-HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER BRED IN IRELAND

A two-year-old West Highland white terrier, which had failed to thrive from six months of age, presented with acute onset dyspnoea. Radiogra phy showed a diffuse pulmonary infiltrate throughout both lungs. Haema tological abnormalities were an absolute neutrophilia and eosinophilia . Postmortem examination revealed uniform consolidation of both lungs which was defined histologically as a verminous granulomatous pneumoni a. Metastrongyle larvae, isolated from the pulmonary tissue, had the m orphological characteristics of Filaroides species. On the basis of th e pathological changes and the larval morphology, a presumptive diagno sis of Fhirthi pneumonia was made. This is believed to be the first re port of disease due to this parasite in Ireland.