What is new about animal and human dirofilariosis?

Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens, the causal agents of cardiopulmonary and subcutaneous dirofilariosis, respectively, affect canine, feline and human populations with an increasing incidence in temperate and tropical areas of the world. In the past decade outstanding advances in the knowledge of dirofilariosis have been achieved. Nevertheless, questions such as the impact of climate change in the transmission and distribution of dirofilariosis, as well as a profound evaluation of both the role of Dirofilaria and Wolbachia and the proteins produced by them in the parasite-host relationship have not been fully addressed; therefore there must be milestones in dirofilariosis research in order to design new strategies and tools for the control of this disease.