Summary

Loa loa (commonly known as the ‘African eye worm’) is a nematode commonly found in areas in and around the rainforests and swamps of Western and Central Africa. In recent years, due to an increase in international travel and migration various ‘exotic’ tropical diseases are being reported all over the world especially in Europe and North America. So far there have been no recent cases reported from the UK. This case report highlights one such case of Loa loa diagnosed recently in the UK. These filarial diseases should be considered in patients who present with unusual ocular or systemic symptoms if they have migrated or travelled from endemic areas in the recent past.