Use of Mini-FLOTAC and Fill-FLOTAC for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals

Abstract

Animals reared in restricted environments are highly susceptible to gastrointestinal infection by helminths and protozoa and therefore zoos are characterized as being parasite-rich environments. Successful implementation of control programs of these parasites in zoo environment depends upon precise and rapid diagnosing of gastrointestinal infections. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of the Mini-FLOTAC technique in combination with Fill-FLOTAC for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals. Fecal samples were collected from 70 animals in four different zoos located in central and southern Italy. All the samples were analyzed using Mini-FLOTAC in combination with Fill-FLOTAC. Out of the 70 pooled samples examined, 80% (24/30) were positive for at least one parasite. Among the gastrointestinal nematodes, Strongyles were the most frequent (40%), followed by Trichuris spp. (23.3%), Parascaris spp. (13.3%) and Capillaria spp. (3.3%). Among the protozoa, Blastocystis spp., Giardia spp. and Eimeria spp. were detected in 6.6%, 3.3% and 3.3%, respectively. These results show that Mini-FLOTAC in combination with Fill-FLOTAC can be used, not only for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals, but also for monitoring control programs in which large numbers of fecal samples need to be examined rapidly and reliably.

Implementation of Mini-FLOTAC in Routine Diagnosis of Coccidia and Helminth Infections in Domestic and Exotic Birds

“…Over the past seven years, Mini-FLOTAC (MF) has been used in routine parasitological diagnosis in several animal species, and most of the studies concluded that this technique is a good alternative to the traditional McMaster technique, allowing simultaneous identification of helminth eggs and coccidia oocysts with relatively higher sensitivity, accuracy and precision. Established in the Unit of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production (University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy), the manufacturer proposes three MF protocols for animals, namely for small animals (e.g., dogs and cats), herbivores (e.g., ruminants and horses) and exotic species (e.g., birds and reptiles), which involve different fecal dilutions and detection limits [ 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Mini-FLOTAC and McMaster egg counting method for detection of gastrointestinal parasites in small ruminants: a comparison study

“…For the goat species, the Mini-FLOTAC presented a better performance in the detection of any type of egg. One of the advantages compared to other methods is the use of different flotation solutions, increasing the egg recovery percentages in all samples (Capasso et al, 2019). The Mini-FLOTAC showed higher sensitivity for detection of Strongyloidea eggs (98.37% and 96.77%) for goats and sheep, respectively.…”

Evaluation of mini-FLOTAC method for diagnosing intestinal parasitic infections

“…An advantage of the mini-FLOTAC technique is that it permits work with fixed fecal samples. Formalin or any preservative can be added and the samples stored for further testing [31] . This allows the possibility of examining the samples on different days and improves the quality control process.…”