Forecasting United States heartworm Dirofilaria immitis prevalence in dogs

Bowman, Dwight D.; Yan, Lian; McMahan, Christopher S.; Nordone, Shila K.; Yabsley, Michael J.; Lund, Robert

doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1804-y

Cited by 36 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(39 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Dirofilaria immitis, the causative agent in heartworm disease, is spread worldwide through infected mosquitos. The main reservoir for D. immitis is the domestic dog, but human, felid, and wildlife infections are documented [1]. In 2018, the Companion Animal Parasite Council compiled 143,492 cases of heartworm disease in dogs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is a significant increase in heartworm positive cases from just 5 years prior when in 2013, 77,557 cases of heartworm disease in dogs were reported (CAPC Database). Both climate change and increases in the interstate and international transport of dogs have increased the prevalence of heartworm disease around the world [1,2]. Microfilaremic dogs can serve as a reservoir for parasite transmission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Feasibility and comparative analysis of Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria freezing and fixation for student instruction and assessment of clinical parasitology skills

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Detection of D. immitis microfilaria (mf) is an important diagnostic skill in veterinary medicine and is critical to Day 1 veterinarians and technicians. Finding a supply of blood containing mf to teach the technique and formalin's adverse environmental effects used in the diagnostic microscopic tests present a challenge. Results: This study evaluated the use of cryopreserved and recently drawn mf-infected blood along with two fixative reagents, acetic acid or formalin for mf detection. The specific aims included determining if veterinary students could 1) detect cryopreserved mf added to fresh blood using routine diagnostic testing and 2) detect morphological differences in the mf. The 236 students were kept blind from the sample status. The ability of the students to identify mf and the mf morphology were compared for the samples and fixatives evaluated. The results demonstrate using a combination of cryopreservation and acetic acid for teaching microfilaria diagnostic techniques is fleasible; however, the quality of the mf morphology is less than optimal when compared to freshly acquired mf containing blood. Compared to reference values, the mf demonstrated a decrease in size with each additional variable evaluated. Conclusion: A majority (98.3%) of the 236 students correctly identified the presence of mf. Teaching laboratories could utilize cryopreserved mf-spiked donor blood in lieu of freshly collected mf-containing blood from a naturally or experimentally infected dog. Substitution of less hazardous chemicals for the fixative can be used. Finally, the change in size measurements provides a mechanism to ensure students can correctly measure mf as students are required to do verifiable measurements and cannot copy reference values from a text book since the cryopreservation and fixation methods cause the mf to measure smaller than textbook reference values.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility and comparative analysis of Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria freezing and fixation for student instruction and assessment of clinical parasitology skills

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…D. immitis, the agent of heartworm disease, is distributed worldwide and is responsible for the heart failure in dogs after the colonization of pulmonary arteries and the right ventricle, where it can be fatal if untreated. Due to the gravity of the disease, it remains the most commonly diagnosed filariasis in dogs due to the detection of antigen circulating in the blood [11,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a multiplexed qPCRs-based approach for the diagnosis ofDirofilaria immitis, D. repens,Acanthocheilonema reconditumand the others filariosis

Laidoud

Davoust

Varloud³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

27Background: The frequent canine filariosis are caused by zoonotic filarial nematodes 28 called Dirofilaria immitis, D. repens and Acanthocheilonema reconditum (Spirurida: 29 Onchocercidae). The absence of reliable diagnostic tools to diagnose and discriminate 30 between these infections as well as their different forms constitutes a major obstacle to 31 their control. The serological diagnosis of heartworm disease has recently shown both 32 sensitivity and specificity problems. 33Findings: Herein, we developed and set up a novel molecular approach for an improved 34 detection of the occult and non-occult filarioses, especially those caused by A. 35 reconditum, D. immitis and D. repens as well as their differential diagnosis based on 36 qPCRs assays. This approach designated the "Combined multiplex approach", proceeds 37 as follows: Filaria and wolbachia identification using the newly customized 28S-based 38 pan-filarial and 16S-based pan-wolbachia qPCRs, respectively, followed by the fast 39 typing method of positive samples using the triplex qPCR targeting A. reconditum, D. 40 immitis and D. repens, and a duplex qPCR targeting Wolbachia of D. immitis and that of 41 D. repens. The analytical sensitivity of the newly qPCR systems was confirmed by the 42 detection limit of wolbachia and filaria DNA ranged from 5E -1 to 1.5E -4 mf/ml of blood 43 with an R² higher than 0.99, Cohen's Kappa agreement ranged from 0.98 to 1. The 44 approach was complemented by a pan-filarial COI and pan-Wolbachia ftsZ PCR for the 45 identification of other filarial parasites and their Wolbachia, respectively. 46 When tested on clinical samples, the results are as follows: 29.2 % (49/168) tested 47 positive to at least filariae or wolbachiae DNA. 19 samples of them tested positive for 48 filarial DNA, 9 for wolbachia DNA and 21 for both. Filarial species and Wolbachia 49 genotype were also identified by the combined multiplex approach from all the positive 50 samples. The single DNA of D. immitis was identified in 12 samples, D. repens in 7, and 51 3 A. reconditum in 15 samples, the co-infection was observed in 5 samples, 4 for both 52Dirofilaria and one harbored the three species. Therefore, 22 samples were positive for 53 Wolbachia endosymbiont of D. immitis, 3 for that of D. repens and 5 for both genotypes. 54A newly duplex qPCR developed for the differential diagnosis of heartworm and French 55 heartworm (Angiostrongylus vasorum) was successfully validated in vitro. However, no 56 DNA of this latter was detected in canine blood samples used in this study. The 57 immunochromatographic test for dirofilariasis antigen during evaluation before and after 58 thermal pretreatment of sera showed substantial agreement (K=0.6) and weak agreement 59 (K=0.15), respectively. 60 Conclusion:The proposed molecular tool targeting filarial genes and associated 61 Wolbachia genes is a reliable tool for the exploration and diagnosis of occult and non-62 occult canine filariasis. We believe that the current diagnosis of heartworm based on...

show abstract

“…reported, albeit rarely (Theis, 2005). With over a 100,000 dogs affected annually, D. immitis has been identified as the most important parasite affecting dogs in the United States (Bowman et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory colonization by Dirofilaria immitis alters the microbiome of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Adegoke

Neff

Geary

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The ability of blood feeding arthropods to successfully acquire and transmit pathogens of medical and veterinary importance has been shown to be interfered or enhanced by the arthropod’s native microbiome. Mosquitoes transmit bacteria, viruses, protozoan and filarial nematodes, majority of which contributes to the 17% of infectious disease cases worldwide. Dirofilaria immitis , a mosquito transmitted filarial nematodes of dogs and cats, is vectored by several mosquito species including Aedes aegypti . Methods In this study, we investigated the impact of D. immitis colonization on the microbiome of laboratory reared female A. aegypti . Metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 variable region of the microbial 16SRNA was used for identification of the microbial differences down to species level. Results We generated a total of 1068 OTUs representing 16 phyla, 181 genera and 271 bacterial species. Overall, in order of abundance, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were the most represented phylum with D. immitis infected mosquitoes having more of Proteobacteria (71%) than uninfected mosquitoes (56.9%). An interesting finding in this study is the detection of Klebsiella oxytoca in relatively similar abundance in infected and uninfected mosquitoes. It has been previously shown to indirectly compete for nutrients with fungi on the domestic housefly eggs and larva. While not statistically significant, D. immitis infection alters bacterial diversity by reducing the bacterial species richness and abundance. Conclusions In conclusion, this is the first study to the best of our knowledge to understand the impact of a filarial infection on the microbiome of its mosquito vector. While the microbiome composition of A. aegypti mosquito have been previously reported, our study shows that in an effort to establish itself, a filarial nematode modifies and alters the overall microbial diversity within its mosquito host.

show abstract

Forecasting United States heartworm Dirofilaria immitis prevalence in dogs

Cited by 36 publications

References 34 publications

Feasibility and comparative analysis of Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria freezing and fixation for student instruction and assessment of clinical parasitology skills

Feasibility and comparative analysis of Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria freezing and fixation for student instruction and assessment of clinical parasitology skills

Development of a multiplexed qPCRs-based approach for the diagnosis ofDirofilaria immitis, D. repens,Acanthocheilonema reconditumand the others filariosis

Laboratory colonization by Dirofilaria immitis alters the microbiome of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About