A 75-year-old male patient presented with redness and irritation in his right eye since 3 days. He was examined and treated by Dr. Vikram Vaidee. The slit-lamp examination showed a round, translucent cystic swelling under the bulbar conjunctiva of the right eye, near the medial canthus. Inside this lesion was observed the presence of a coiled worm which showed motility with the slit lamp illumination. An opening was made in the conjunctiva, the worm around 10 cm was removed in toto with the help of a blunt forceps and was sent for examination. The worm was identified as Dirofilaria repens. After the excision there was no recurrence and patient was relieved of his symptoms.

Human dirofilariasis is a rare zoonotic infection that occasionally has been observed in the eye. Humans can be accidentally infected with animal filarial worms (dirofilaria). Filarial worms are transmitted to humans through invertebrate biological vectors such as certain species of mosquitoes. Ocular dirofilariasis can lead to misdiagnosis due to its rare ocular manifestations and it is considered an emergent zoonosis. It is essential to increase awareness of this rare infection and do a meticulous evaluation of patients presenting with red eye.