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Patency and transmission of Filaroides hirthi infection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

J. R. Georgi
Affiliation:
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York14853.
M. E. Georgi
Affiliation:
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York14853.
D. J. Cleveland
Affiliation:
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York14853.

Extract

Filaroides hirthi lungworm infection was diagnosed by the recovery of 1st-stage larvae from the faeces of dogs with heavy, artificially induced infections using zinc sulphate flotation. Diagnosis of low-grade natural infections was infrequently achieved. Zinc sulphate flotation was demonstrated to be about 100 times as efficient as the Baermann technique in concentrating F. hirthi larvae from dog faeces. Larvae recovered from faeces proved to be infective when fed to a pup and it was concluded that F. hirthi infection can be transmitted directly and immediately by fresh faecal contamination. Mongrel dogs of diverse ancestry were readily infected by feeding 1st-stage larvae from lung tissue. This, F. hirthi infection was shown not to be limited to the Beagle breed by biological restrictions. The observations that 1st-stage larvae pass through the alimentary tract on their way out of the body and that larvae are found in the mesenteric lymph modes long after a single exposure to infection support the hypothesis that there is an autogenous re-infection of the host by a proportion of these larvae.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

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