Lungworms in Germany 2002 – 2016: Is there an Increase in Occurrence and Geographical Spread?

Abstract

Angiostrongylus vasorum and Crenosoma vulpis are metastrongylid nematodes that are now considered to be widespread in Europe. The results of coproscopic examination of faecal samples submitted for routine diagnosis to the Veterinary Laboratory Freiburg were analyzed in order to study the occurrence of lungworm infections in the dog population in Germany. A total of 65,967 canine faecal samples from 2002 -2016 were examined by flotation and the Baermann funnel technique. Lungworm larvae were found in 883 (1.34 %) samples, of which 606 (0.92 %) and 277 (0.42 %) were positive for A. vasorum and C. vulpis, respectively. The share of A. vasorum positive dogs increased from 0.09 % in the period

A comparative study of helminths of raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procynoides) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) sharing the same territory

“…The most dangerous of these nematodes for dogs is A. vasorum, the French heartworm. Intense research on the distribution of this nematode in Germany has started only in recent years and were concentrated on dogs [43][44][45][46]. The prevalence of coproscopically positive dogs was low in general but reached 7.4% in animals with clinical symptoms [45].…”

Evaluation of the Persistent Preventive Efficacy of 2.5 % Moxidectin/10 % Imidacloprid Spot-on (Advocate®, Advantage® Multi) in Dogs Experimentally Infected with Angiostrongylus vasorum

“…In four of these eight dogs also arterial thrombi could be found. Growing prevalence in dogs and wildlife has been reported for A. vasorum (Taylor et al 2015, Barutzki et al 2017. There is also evidence for a growing infection rate in snails (Aziz et al 2016).…”

“…Epidemiological surveys indicate that the prevalence of A. vasorum infection in dogs and foxes is increasing in various European countries (Traversa et al 2013, Taylor et al 2015. A significant increase in the prevalence of A. vasorum from 0.9 % in 2004 -2006 to 1.8 % in 2012 -2016 was found in a retrospective analysis of canine faecal samples from Germany (Barutzki et al 2017). In addition, there are new reports on the occurrence of A. vasorum infections in dogs and wildlife from countries where A. vasorum was previously not observed (Hurniková et al 2013, Lempereur et al 2016, Penagos et al 2016.…”

Annotated catalogue of species of Angiostrongylus and the related genera Gallegostrongylus, Rodentocaulus and Stefanskostrongylus (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea, Angiostrongylidae)

“…Much of Europe (e.g. Jefferies et al ., 2009; Koch & Willesen, 2009; Ferdushy & Hasan, 2010; Gerrikagoitia et al ., 2010; Majoros et al ., 2010; Traversa et al ., 2010; Simin et al ., 2014; McCarthy et al ., 2016; Barutzki et al ., 2017; Čabanová et al ., 2017, 2018; Deak et al ., 2017; Schnyder et al ., 2017; Čabrilo et al ., 2018; De Liberato et al ., 2018; Lange et al ., 2018a; Schug et al ., 2018; Garcia-Campos et al ., 2018), where it appears to be spreading (Morgan, 2018); Turkey (Tiğin, 1972); Uganda (see Jefferies et al ., 2009); eastern North America (Bourque et al ., 2008; Kistler et al ., 2012); Colombia (Lange et al ., 2018b). Reported in a dog introduced to Australia (Tebb et al ., 2007).…”