Background: Nematode infections in horses are widespread across the world. Increasing levels of anthelmintic resistance, reported worldwide in equine parasites, have led to the creation of programs for the control of nematodes based on faecal egg counts (FEC). To improve nematode egg counting in equine faecal samples and establish whether the matrix of equine faeces or the eggs affect the counts, the analytical sensitivity, accuracy and precision of Mini-FLOTAC (combined with Fill-FLOTAC), McMaster and Cornell-Wisconsin techniques were compared. Known numbers of eggs extracted from equine or ovine faeces were added to egg free ovine and equine faeces to give counts of 10, 50, 200 and 500 eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces. Results: The Cornell-Wisconsin significantly underestimated egg counts and McMaster showed a low analytical sensitivity, revealing 100% of sensitivity only for concentrations greater than 200 EPG. EPG values detected by Mini-FLOTAC did not differ significantly from expected counts at any level of egg density. Conclusions: Mini-FLOTAC combined to Fill-FLOTAC which provides an accurate method of weighing without need for a balance and filtering out debris, could be used for FEC on the farm as well as in the laboratory.
BackgroundThe geographical distribution of ticks on companion animals needs to be monitored to develop and plan effective control measures, as suggested by the European Scientific Counsel on Companion Animal Parasites. The aim of this study was to conduct the first Italian national survey of tick distribution on privately owned dogs.MethodsThe study was performed over 20 months (February 2016 - September 2017) and involved 153 veterinary practices in 64 different provinces covering 17/20 (85%) Italian regions. Participating practitioners were asked to examine five different dogs per month at random and complete a questionnaire for each dog. Differences in tick infestation associated with: sex, age and hair length (long and short); the dog’s habitat (indoor or outdoor/kennel); and the dog’s environment (urban or rural/sylvatic) were evaluated. The attachment site of ticks on the dog was also recorded. Acaricide efficacy was evaluated for the subset of dogs for which complete information on product used, date of sampling and date of last ectoparasiticide treatment was available.ResultsOf the 3026 dogs examined, 1383 (45.7%) were carrying at least one tick. Overall, 2439 tick samples were collected and a total of 14 tick species identified. Rhipicephalus sanguineus group were the most predominant ticks (63.6%), followed by Ixodes ricinus (30.6%) and I. hexagonus (5.6%). Twenty-four dogs had mixed tick infestations. Long-haired dogs had a higher tick infestation risk as did dogs with outdoor and rural/sylvatic lifestyles. Ticks were located on the head (37.4%), the neck (28.8%), the muzzle (15.5%) and the back (15.3%). A higher prevalence of Rhipicephalus was found in the interdigital spaces (10.8%) compared to Ixodes (0.2%). Finally, ectoparasiticide treatments were found significantly protective against tick infestation, especially orally administered formulations.ConclusionsPrivately owned dogs in Italy have a high prevalence (45.7%) of infestation with ixodid ticks and this risk varies by dog phenotype and lifestyle.
The faecal egg count reduction test (FECR) is the recommended technique to monitor anthelmintic drug efficacy in livestock. However, results are often inconclusive due to the low analytic sensitivity of the diagnostic technique or the conflict in results from FECR formulae. A novel experimental set-up was, therefore, used to compare the impact of analytic sensitivity and formulae on FECR results. Four McMaster techniques (analytic sensitivities 50, 33.3, 15 and 10) and a FLOTAC technique (analytic sensitivity ~ 1) were used on faecal samples of 30 calves with a FEC of less than 200 eggs per gram. True drug efficacies of 70%, 80% and 90% were experimentally mimicked by comparing FEC before and after dilution (3:10, 2:10 and 1:10, respectively). The FECR was summarized using group (FECR(1)) and individual (FECR(2)) based formulae. There was a significant increase in precision of FECR when the analytic sensitivity increased (p < 0.0001). The precision also depended on the formula used, FECR(1) (p < 0.05) resulting in more precise FECR compared to FECR(2). The accuracy of the FECR differed marginally between the two formulae (p = 0.06), FECR(1) being more accurate. In conclusion, the present study describes a novel methodology to compare techniques for the precision and the accuracy of their FECR results. The results underscored that techniques with high analytic sensitivity will improve the interpretation of FECR in animal populations where baseline FEC are low. They also point out that the precision of individual-based formulae is affected by the analytic sensitivity.
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