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Dirofilaria repens in dogs and humans in Slovenia

Tina Kotnik

Tina Kotnik

Small Animal Clinic, Veterinary Faculty, University of LjubljanaLjubljana, Slovenia
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Kotnik, Tina
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Aleksandra Vergles Rataj

Aleksandra Vergles Rataj

Institute of Microbiology and Parasitology, Veterinary Faculty, University of LjubljanaLjubljana, Slovenia
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Rataj, Aleksandra Vergles
 and 
Barbara Šoba

Barbara Šoba

Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of LjubljanaLjubljana, Slovenia
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Šoba, Barbara
  
Mar 01, 2022
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Published Online: Mar 01, 2022
Page range: 117 - 123
Received: Jul 07, 2021
Accepted: Feb 02, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2022-0008
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© 2022 T. Kotnik et al. published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction

The prevalence of Dirofilaria repens in dogs in countries bordering Slovenia ranges from 1.5% to 47.3%. The aim of this study was to estimate its prevalence in Slovenian dogs and to present the cases of dirofilariasis diagnosed in humans from 2010 to 2020.

Material and Methods

Epidemiological data were collected and blood samples were taken from 465 dogs older than one year and born in Slovenia. A real-time PCR was performed on all samples to detect filarioid DNA, and a D. repens-and D. immitis-specific real-time PCR was performed on positive samples. Blood samples from 446 dogs were tested for Dirofilaria spp. using a modified Knott’s test. Human cases were diagnosed from histological sections of excised subcutaneous nodules. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the samples. The one-sample nonparametric chi-squared test was used to assess whether categories of a variable were equally distributed.

Results

Three dogs’ samples tested positive for D. repens using the species-specific real-time PCR, while D. immitis DNA was not detected. The modified Knott’s test was positive in two of the three PCR-positive dogs, two of which had never travelled outside Slovenia’s borders. Four human patients with D. repens dirofilariasis were diagnosed. Since their travel history was unknown, autochthonous transmission could not be confirmed.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated a 0.64% prevalence of D. repens infection in dogs in Slovenia. Two cases could be autochthonous.
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English
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4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Life Sciences, Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Virology, Life Sciences, other, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine
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