Seroprevalence of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in Albania

Rapti, Dhimitër; Rehbein, Steffen

doi:10.1007/s00436-010-1914-y

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Both sexes had similar prevalence (P>0.05) in agreement with several authors (Song et al, 2003;Montoya et al, 2006;Rapti and Rehbein, 2010), which is in contrast to other studies (Yldrim et al, 2007;Traversa et al, 2010), where significantly higher prevalence rates in males were shown. It has been suggested that the higher infection rate in male dogs could be due to them attracting vectors more strongly (Montoya et al, 1998).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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

et al. 2016

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“…Recently conducted serosurveys in Albanian dogs have shown infection rates ranging from 3% to 13.5% (Lazri et al 2008;Hamel et al 2009;Rapti and Rehbein 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Principal intestinal parasites of dogs in Tirana, Albania

et al. 2010

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From 2004 to 2009, the digestive tracts of 111 dogs from suburban areas around Tirana, Albania, were examined for intestinal helminths. In addition, rectal faecal samples of all dogs were examined for protozoan infections and 48 faecal samples from dogs >6 months of age were processed with the Baermann technique to test for the excretion of lungworm larvae. The heart and pulmonary arteries of 30 dogs >6 months of age also were examined for nematode parasites. The intestinal parasite fauna of the dogs included three protozoan species (Cystoisospora canis, Cystoisospora ohioensis/burrowsi, Sarcocystis spp.), three cestode species (Dipylidium caninum, Taenia hydatigena, Echinococcus granulosus), five nematode species (Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, Trichuris vulpis) and one acanthocephalan (Centrorhynchus buteonis). Rates of infection were: 15.3% for C. canis, 31.5% for C. ohioensis/burrowsi, 1.8% for Sarcocystis spp., 65.8% for D. caninum, 16.2% for T. hydatigena, 2.7% for E. granulosus (genotype G1), 13.5% for A. caninum, 64.9% for U. stenocephala, 75.7% for T. canis, 0.9% for T. leonina, 21.6% for T. vulpis and 0.9% for C. buteonis. Up to six species of gastrointestinal parasites were found per dog. The 63 ≤ 6-month-old dogs harboured significantly (p<0.001) fewer gastrointestinal parasite species concurrently (mean 2.65 ± 1.25 species per animal) than the 48 older animals (mean 3.77 ± 1.45 species per animal). Dogs >6 months of age harboured significantly (p<0.05) more D. caninum, T. hydatigena, A. caninum, U. stenocephala and T. vulpis compared to younger dogs. Conversely, the younger dogs harboured significantly (p<0.001) more T. canis than the older ones. There was no difference in the male and female dogs' counts of individual intestinal helminth species apart from T. hydatigena in dogs >6 months of age: Male dogs harboured significantly (p<0.05) more tapeworms than female dogs. Based on faecal examination, there was no indication for lungworm infection; however, two adult heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) were found in the right ventricle of one dog.

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“…While numerous studies have contributed to a good understanding of the parasites of both dogs and cats in many countries of Europe, only few reports on parasites of companion animals in Albania exist which either consider exclusively dogs [47,[60][61][62][63][64][65] or focus on dogs with limited information given on parasites of cats [47][48][49]. Th e most recent publications reported the detection of ascarid eggs in the faeces of cats from Tirana [48] or described the infestation of cat fl eas, Ctenocephalides felis, on all of 26 cats examined [49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endoparasites of cats from the Tirana area and the first report on Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Railliet, 1898) in Albania

Knaus¹,

Kusi

Rapti

et al. 2011

Wien Klin Wochenschr

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Following the recovery of first-stage nematode larvae indicative of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection in the faeces of free-roaming cats from the greater Tirana area, examination of 18 cats at necropsy revealed nine of them harbouring adult A. abstrusus (Railliet, 1898) in the lungs (prevalence, 50%; range, 1-11). In addition to A. abstrusus, Eucoleus aerophilus (16.7%; 1-9) was isolated from the lungs, and Toxocara cati (83.3%; 2-33), Ancylostoma tubaeforme (44.4%; 1-20), Dipylidium caninum (83.3%; 1-164), Joyeuxiella pasqualei (11.1%; 1-3) and one specimen of an acanthocephalan (5.5%) were recovered from the gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, oocysts of Cystoisospora felis and C. rivolta were found in the rectal faeces of 5.6% and 11.1% of the cats, respectively. In conclusion, the prevalence of endoparasite infection in free-roaming cats in Tirana can be considered to be high. The occurrence of A. abstrusus, which may cause respiratory distress in cats, is reported for the first time in Albania.

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Seroprevalence of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in Albania

Cited by 22 publications

References 12 publications

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

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

Principal intestinal parasites of dogs in Tirana, Albania

Endoparasites of cats from the Tirana area and the first report on Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Railliet, 1898) in Albania

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