First molecular identification of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in a cat presenting severe respiratory disease from Israel.

Feline lung worm infection is increasingly reported in recent years, and recognized as a cause for respiratory disease in cats. Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is regarded as the most prevalent cause of such cases. Infective L3 larvae carried in gastropods and paratenic hosts infect felines, developing to adult worms that reside in the lungs' parenchyma and may cause verminous pneumonia.