Dirofilariasis in Kuwait: first report of human infection due to Dirofilaria repens in the Arabian Gulf.

Zoonotic dirofilariasis has been reported sporadically from many areas of the world but thus far, there are no such reports from the Arabian Peninsula. We present the first report of human dirofilariasis from this region in the Middle East and discuss the significance of the finding. A fixed, elongated mass in the abdominal wall of a 50-year-old Kuwaiti man was excised and a worm was identified in an abscess in tissue sections. The location of the nodule in subcutaneous tissue, the diameter of the worm in section, the multilayered cuticle with fine longitudinal ridges on the external layer, prominent internal cuticular ridges, and abundant somatic muscles suggested the diagnosis of the worm as Dirofilaria (Nochetiella) repens, a natural parasite of dogs and cats in Asia, Africa, and Europe.