TERAMO/ITALY, March 29th (Biermann) – The researchers, led by Dr. Donato Traversa, collected blood samples from 300 native cats and 300 native dogs in the Abruzzo region of central Italy in order to analyze them for infection with Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens. In the past few years there had been sporadic reports of animal and human dirofilarioses in this region.

The team reports that all  600 samples were subjected to a Knott modified method, to a test for the detection of circulating D. immitis antigen and to two species-specific PCR-coupled sequencing protocols. Furthermore, they say, epidemiological data were collected and then correlated with the filarial prevalence by univariate and multivariate statistical analyses.

Data analysis showed that 25 dogs (8.3%) and six cats (2%) were positive for filariae in at least one diagnostic test, with an overall prevalence rate for Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens of 2.3% and 5.6% in dogs and 0.3% and 1.6% in cats, respectively.

“Male and large sized dogs were more likely to be infected by Dirofilaria,” the authors note. They suppose that this could be due to the fact that animals living outdoor and of large size are more exposed to mosquito bites. However, they conceded, these factors were not confirmed as convincing risk factors by multivariate analysis.

Nonetheless, the Abruzzo region seems to be a new autochthonous focus in central Italy, showing the present expansion southward of canine and feline filariae in Italy.

References

• Veterinary Parasitology, Volume 169, Issues 1-2, 19 April 2010, Pages 128-132