A comparison of mini-FLOTAC and FLOTAC with classic methods to diagnosing intestinal parasites of dogs from Brazil

Abstract

Dogs may be affected by different species of gastrointestinal parasites which present great importance in veterinary medicine and public health. Several techniques to diagnosing these parasites have been proposed, but different performances achieved by each method make difficult the choice of the best technique to be used. In this study, the performance of two classic methods (i.e., Willis and Hoffman techniques) and two recent techniques (i.e., FLOTAC and Mini-FLOTAC) to diagnosing gastrointestinal parasites of dogs was evaluated. Fecal samples (n = 127) of dogs divided in pools (n = 30) were collected and analyzed using four different techniques (see above). Eggs and/or oocysts of gastrointestinal parasites were detected in 93.3 % (28/30) of the samples. In particular, 20 % (6/30) were detected through the method of Hoffman, 53.3 % (16/30) by the Willis technique, and 63.3 % (19/30) and 90 % (27/30) by Mini-FLOTAC and FLOTAC, respectively. Ancylostomatidae, Trichuris vulpis and Toxocara canis were the most frequent parasites herein detected. The FLOTAC and Mini-FLOTAC techniques were the most efficient tools to detect eggs and/or oocysts of gastrointestinal parasites of dogs, therefore their use is recommended in the laboratorial routine of veterinary medicine. This study is the first report of the use of both techniques (i.e., FLOTAC and Mini-FLOTAC) to diagnosing parasites of dogs in Brazil.

Multiple Drug Resistance in the canine hookwormAncylostoma caninum: an Emerging Threat

“…Additionally egg reduction was measured at day 23 following treatment with fenbendazole, since egg counts after a brief decline, continually increased until this day. All FEC were performed in triplicate using the Mini-FLOTAC (University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy) procedure with a detection threshold of 5 EPG (Lima et al, 2015; Maurelli et al, 2014), adding two grams of feces to 18 ml of sodium nitrate (Feca-Med ® , Vedco, Inc. St. Joseph; MO, USA specific gravity = 1.2). Fecal egg count reduction was calculated using the following formula: ((Pre-treatment FEC – Post-treatment FEC) / (Pre-treatment FEC)) x 100.…”

Gastrointestinal parasites of cats in Brazil: frequency and zoonotic risk

“…The prevalence of coccidian species in pets may vary widely depending on the technique used. It is important to note that the present study used the FLOTAC technique, which is a tool that presents high sensitivity in relation to the classical methods (LIMA et al, 2015). The high percentage of positivity (i.e.…”

“…Recently, a reliable tool known as the FLOTAC technique has been used to diagnosing intestinal parasites of animals and humans (CRINGOLI et al, 2010;CRINGOLI et al, 2013). It has been demonstrated that this diagnostic method presents high sensitivity for detecting eggs and/or oocysts of parasites in several species of animals (RINALDI et al, 2011;LIMA et al, 2015).…”

A historical review of the techniques of recovery of parasites for their detection in human stools

“…The procedure involves the dilution of 1 g of feces in a preservative solution, followed by filtration and addition of a solution for the flotation of parasitic structures using a specific apparatus developed for the technique. This technique evaluated several flotation solutions (FS) at variable densities and verified the recovery and quantification of several helminth species in humans and animals 41,105 . The FLOTAC technique was compared with conventional quantification techniques and was shown to be efficient with superior results for sensitivity 29,60,82,106,107 but did not demonstrate the same performance in protozoan infections 71,83,108 .…”