Molecular Diagnosis of Abdominal Armillifer grandis Pentastomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Pentastomiasis is an emerging snake-borne parasitic zoonosis in the tropics. We describe a molecular andmorphological study to diagnose a cluster of asymptomatic abdominal human infections caused by Armillifer grandis. The findings may indicate a silent epidemic in a rural area where severe symptomatic ocular cases with the same parasite species have recently surfaced. Mo-lecular diagnostics are of increasing importance when patient material from remote areas cannot be thoroughly examined lo-cally for logistic reasons. Pentastomiasis, an emerging parasitic zoonosis in rural tropicalareas, is caused by nymphs (larval stages) of pentastomes, a group of unique crustacean-related vermiform organisms com-monly known as tongue worms (1–3). Adult parasites of the genus Armillifer inhabit the respiratory tract of snakes (definitive hosts), and infective parasite ova are excreted by snake feces and secre-tions. After ingestion of parasite eggs, small mammals serve as intermediate hosts, while humans may become accidental dead-end hosts. After hatching in the gut, larvae migrate to various organs, where they encyst and molt (1). Risk factors for human infections include the consumption or handling of contaminate