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Comparison of coprological, immunological and molecular methods for the detection of dogs infected with Angiostrongylus vasorum before and after anthelmintic treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2015

M. SCHNYDER ,
R. JEFFERIES ,
A. SCHUCAN ,
E. R. MORGAN  and
P. DEPLAZES
M. SCHNYDER*
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
R. JEFFERIES
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
A. SCHUCAN
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
E. R. MORGAN
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
P. DEPLAZES
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
*
*Corresponding author. Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland. E-mail: manuela.schnyder@uzh.ch
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Summary

Timely diagnosis of the nematode Angiostrongylus vasorum in dogs is important in view of severe and permanent lung and cardiovascular lesions that may occur. The performance of the classical Baermann coprological method was compared with ELISAs for the serological detection of circulating antigen and specific antibodies and with Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed on EDTA blood, feces and tracheal swabs of serial samples from experimentally inoculated dogs over 13 weeks post inoculation (wpi) (n = 16) and following anthelmintic treatment (n = 6). Patency was observed from 6·7 to 7·6 wpi in all dogs, Baermann results were then mostly positive (116/119, 97%) during the patent period, with wide variations in the numbers of first stage larvae numbers. Blood PCR was tested positive on 1–2 occasions in 11/16 dogs in the pre-patent period, while all tested positive by antibody-detection ELISA by 6 wpi. The proportion of dogs testing positive by fecal PCR and antigen-detection ELISA rose early in the patent period. Tracheal swabs were occasionally DNA-positive in 3/16 dogs starting from 10 wpi. Following treatment, larval excretion stopped within 3 weeks and blood PCR results became negative within 1 week (5/6 dogs), while 4/6 dogs were positive for parasite DNA in tracheal swabs. Parasite antigen and specific antibodies both persisted in the blood for 3–9 weeks after treatment, with average optical densities and the proportion of positive dogs falling gradually, while results using other tests were much more variable. Results indicate that the earliest and most consistent results are obtained by the ELISAs, which can also be used for monitoring dogs after anthelmintic treatment.

Keywords

Angiostrongylus vasorumdogcopromicroscopyserologyantigen detectionantibody detectionPCRtracheal swabsfecal samplesblood
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 142 , Issue 10 , September 2015 , pp. 1270 - 1277
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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