Prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs from Barcelona: Validation of a geospatial prediction model

Montoya-Alonso, José Alberto; Carretón, Elena; Simón, Luis; González‐Miguel, Javier; García-Guasch, Laín; Morchón, Rodrigo; Simón, F

doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.06.025

Cited by 33 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Since the mosquitoes can reproduce in small containers with water (flowerpots, ponds, fountains), all these factors favour the climatic conditions for the development of heartworm larvae in mosquito vectors during the cold months of the year. This phenomenon was also observed in Barcelona, another large city in Spain [16, 21]. In the present study, the prevalence observed in the city centre was 3.3%.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Prevalence of heartworm in dogs and cats of Madrid, Spain

et al. 2017

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Background Dirofilaria immitis causes heartworm disease, a chronic and potentially fatal cardiopulmonary disease which mainly affects dogs and cats. It is present in most of Spain, due to favourable climatic factors. Madrid, located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, is the most highly populated city in the country. There is a lack of current data on canine heartworm and there are no published epidemiological data regarding feline heartworm in this region, therefore the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and current distribution of canine and feline dirofilariosis in the province of Madrid.MethodsSerum samples from 1716 dogs and 531 cats, from animals living in the metropolitan area of Madrid and adjacent areas, were studied. All the samples, either from cats and dogs, were tested for circulating D. immitis antigens using a commercial immunochromatographic test kit. Furthermore, to establish the seroprevalence of heartworm infection in cats, serological techniques for anti-D. immitis and anti-Wolbachia antibody detection were used.ResultsPrevalence of D. immitis in the canine population of Madrid was 3%, showing an increase in comparison to previous data. The presence of heartworm in the city centre could be influenced by the presence of Urban Heat Islands, while the positive dogs from metropolitan and adjacent areas were mainly located under the influence of rivers. Regarding cats, 0.2% were positive to the antigens test and 7.3% were seropositive to both anti-D. immitis and Wolbachia surface protein antibodies, which demonstrate the presence of feline heartworm in Madrid. Seropositive cats were present in the same areas where positive dogs were found. Indoor/outdoor cats showed the highest seroprevalence whereas the lowest corresponded to indoor cats, demonstrating that prophylactic treatments should be carried out regardless of lifestyle. Infection was found in 2.2% of dogs and 6.7% of the cats < 1 year-old, which indicates that early preventive campaigns in puppies and kittens should be implemented.ConclusionsThe results point to the need for adequate prophylactic measures through the administration of macrocyclic lactones in animals living in Madrid. Veterinarians should be aware of the presence of this disease and include heartworm in the differential diagnosis when a pet presents with symptoms compatible with D. immitis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Prevalence of heartworm in dogs and cats of Madrid, Spain

et al. 2017

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“…The ability of GIS to predict the distribution and epidemiology of dirofilariosis in different geographical areas has been already demonstrated by the empirical epidemiological data obtained at the continental (Genchi et al, 2009;Kartashev et al, 2014), national (Medlock et al, 2007;Simón et al, 2014), and regional (Mortarino et al, 2008;Montoya-Alonso et al, 2015) levels. As demonstrated in our present study, GIS could become an important tool for the management of HWD in endemic and non-endemic countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Geographic distribution of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in stray dogs of eastern Romania

et al. 2016

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A survey was conducted in the eastern part of Romania to assess the prevalence and geographical distribution of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. Plasma samples were collected from 458 stray dogs hosted in shelters in 8 counties and tested serologically for the presence of heartworm. In addition, 45 blood samples from dogs of a shelter in Galati city were examined by the modified Knott and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. The immmunological assay showed a heartworm infection prevalence of 8.9% in the dogs. Optical density results for positive samples ranged between 0.217 and 2.683. Geographical information systems (GIS) were used to produce overlays of distribution maps of D. immitis prevalence and predictive maps based on temperature suitability. High prevalence of D. immitis was found in the central East up to the northern border of the country, i.e.Galati county (60%), followed by the counties of Vaslui (12.0%) and Iasi (7.7%). Out of 45 samples examined using the Knott test, 23 were positive for circulating microfilariae (51.1%), while 19 dogs were positive for D. immitis and 4 for both D. immitis and D. repens with the multiplex PCR test. The high prevalence for D. immitis shown in dogs in the Southeast (Galati, 42.2%) also by multiplex PCR gave strong support to the results achieved by the serological tests. The present study confirms the ability of GIS to predict the distribution and epidemiology of dirofilariosis in different geographical territories as has been already demonstrated by the empirical epidemiological data obtained at the continental, national and intraregional levels.

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“…The seroprevalence of the infection was reported as 1% in Iran [15] , 18% in India [16] , 13.5% in China [10] and 55.3% in Russia [8] . In Europe, the seroprevalence was recorded as 9.6% in Italy [17] , 2.4% in Spain [18] and 2.1% in Portugal [19] . The first case report of D. immitis was notified in an imported dog in Turkey, in 1951 [20] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Türkiye’nin Trakya Bölgesindeki Barınak Köpeklerinde Kalp Kurdu Hastalığının Serolojik ve Moleküler Prevalansı

Çetinkaya¹,

Akyazı²,

Özkurt³

et al. 2016

Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Derg

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Dirofilaria immitis is an important nematode of dogs and cats which causes fatal heartworm disease in their hosts. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of D. immitis by serologic and molecular methods in shelter dogs, in the Thrace Region of Turkey. Blood samples were collected from 402 dogs in shelters which were located in four cities (Istanbul, Edirne, Tekirdag and Kirklareli) in this region. The blood smears were examined for the presence of D. immitis microfilariae under the light microscope. The commercial Snap3Dx test kit and PCR assay for amplifying the ITS-2 gene region were used for the serological and molecular analyses, respectively. The serologic and molecular prevalence of D. immitis was determined as 6.7% and 2.7%, respectively. D. immitis microfilariae were also determined in the blood smears of three dogs (0.8%). The distribution of the infection according to the provinces was 14.7% in Edirne, 11% in Kirklareli, 1% in Tekirdag and 0% in Istanbul. The occult infection rate was determined as 59.3%. This study revealed the presence of D. immitis for the first time in the Thrace Region of Turkey. This region is the transition point to Europe and obtained data in this study could contribute to the control of heartworm disease in the area. Keywords

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Prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs from Barcelona: Validation of a geospatial prediction model

Cited by 33 publications

References 14 publications

Prevalence of heartworm in dogs and cats of Madrid, Spain

Prevalence of heartworm in dogs and cats of Madrid, Spain

Geographic distribution of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in stray dogs of eastern Romania

Türkiye’nin Trakya Bölgesindeki Barınak Köpeklerinde Kalp Kurdu Hastalığının Serolojik ve Moleküler Prevalansı

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