Seroprevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in Cats from Liaoning Province, Northeastern China

Abstract

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT test kit. In this population, the average prevalence was 4.5%. Age and rearing conditions (feral or domestic) were found to be associated with the prevalence of D. immitis. The prevalence was significantly higher in feral cats compared with domestic cats (8.4% vs 1.4%, P<0.01). There was no significant difference between males and females (4.7% vs 4.2%, P>0.05), but older cats (≥3 years old) showed a statistically higher prevalence compared with younger cats (<3 years old) in feral populations (16.8 vs 2.4%, P<0.01), while the difference between the age groups was not statistically significant in domestic cats (2.4% vs 0.51%, P>0.05), all these results suggest that outdoor exposure time may be one of the most important factors for D. immitis prevalence in cats. Results reveal that D. immitis are prevalence in domestic and feral cats in northeastern China, which indicates that appropriate preventive measures should be taken to decrease the incidence of feline heartworm disease in Liaoning province, northeastern China.

Prevalence of dirofilariasis in cats in the Kars province, Turkey

“…Montoya-Alonso et al (24) reported that sex is influential on the prevalence of D. immitis in cats (P < 0.001) and in this study the prevalence of the disease is higher in male cats than females. On the other hand, some other reports suggest that sex has no significance for the prevalence of the disease, yet nevertheless indicate a higher prevalence in male cats (17,23). The present study also demonstrated that sex has no significance for the prevalence of dirofilariasis in cats.…”

“…Similar to these reports, the present study revealed no relation between the age of the animals and the prevalence of the disease. On the other hand, the prevalence of the D. immitis has been reported to significantly increase with advanced age in cats (17) and in dogs (5). Differently, although statistically insignificant, Magi et al (22) reported a higher prevalence in 1 to 2 year old cats, compared to older cats, which is in agreement with the results of the our study.…”

Occurrence of Dirofilaria immitis in cats from the Aegean region in Turkey

“…In the direct blood examination, 1-2 drops of the blood sample were placed between a slide and a coverslip. The slides were examined under a microscope, and microfilariae were in cats are reported in many countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America (10,13,20,25,30). In studies conducted in different parts of Europe, the prevalence of the disease was 9.4% (3/32) in Greece, 4.8% (32/62) in Italy, 3.5% (5/141) in Portugal, and 24.40-25.20% (61-63/250) in Spain (6,10,25,38).…”

The prevalence of canine dirofilariasis in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Although D. immitis is most commonly found in dogs in China, the level of D. immitis infection in cats should also be taken into consideration. A study reported D. immitis prevalence of 3.0% in cats in Gansu, northwestern China [ 6 ], Kang et al [ 24 ] reported 1.9% prevalence in stray cats from Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Shandong, and another study reported an average prevalence of D. immitis of 4.5% in cats in Liaoning [ 17 ]. The overall prevalence of antibody-positive cats was found to be 6.7% in Taiwan in 2017 [ 33 ].…”