Dicrocoeliosis in Cats and Dogs

N e s v a d b a J . : Dicrocoeliosis in Cats and Dogs. Acta Vet. Brno 2006, 75: 289-293. This paper is the first report of clinical cases of dicrocoeliosis in cats and dogs. In cats, symptoms manifested as inappetence, diarrhoea, loss of weight, changes of hair coat, and, in particular, conjunctivitis with mucoserous discharge and prolapse of the third eyelid. In dogs, clinical symptoms manifested with alteration of the digestive apparatus (anorexia, increased peristalsis, vomiting and diarrhoea), loss of weight, jaundice and skin lesions (pruritus, alopecia and dermatitis interdigitalis). The performance of all working dogs was reduced significantly. Both in dogs and cats, a reliable diagnosis is only possible through repeated coprological examination and demonstration of Dicrocoelium eggs. As far as the therapeutic procedures are concerned, albendazole administered for four days was only found fully effective in the cat as well as in the dog, in which praziquantel for 4-5 days was also sufficient. Dicrocoelium denriticum (lancet fluke), coprology, clinical symptoms, therapy Dicrocoeliosis is a worldwide trematodosis, which occurs in the individual continents, countries and regions, with very diverse prevalence and intensity. A great number of mammals, mainly the herbivorous, and recently also birds have been reported as hosts (Rommel et al. 2000; Ducháãek and Lamka 2003). The distribution of dicrocoeliosis in Switzerland has been described in many papers documenting, in particular, its spread among livestock, and, above all, among cattle and sheep, causing serious losses. These have been permanently checked, not only by the coprological examinations, but also with liver examinations of slaughtered animals (Ducommun and Pfis ter 1991; Braun e t al. 1995; Camara et al. 1996). Dicrocoeliosis may also influence in a negative way the state of health and growth of young horses. During his practise, the author witnessed the death of two foals due to this disease. Burger (1999) was interested in his dissertation thesis in the occurrence of the dicrocoeliosis in the Emmenthal region. In the years 1991 to 1998 this author examined a total of 2 840 animals, 1 882, 294, 253, 116, 53 and 35 of which were dogs, cattle, cats, sheep, rabbits and goats, respectively. From the total number of examined animals Dicrocoelium eggs were found in 11.8% of specimens, i.e., in 59.9%, 32.1%, 31.4%, 25.9%, 23.7%, 2.7% and 1.2% of cattle, rabbits, goats, sheep, horses, dogs and cats, respectively. In dogs and cats Burger (1999) presumed, that these are not cases of natural infection, but a matter of passing Dicrocoelium eggs due to eating faeces of infected animals. In cats, it was probably caused by feeding them with food containing Dirocoelium eggs. There is no chapter on dicrocoeliosis in the textbook engaged with the clinical parasitology of the dog and cat by Svobodová and Svoboda (1995). Bowman et al. (2002) recommend praziquantel at the dose of 20 mg·kg-1 of body weight to control flukes in the cat. The same is true of other publications concerning diseases of the cat (Christoph 1977; Kraft and Dürr 1996). Dicrocoeliosis as a disease of the dog is presented only in the publication by Georgi and Georgi (1992). It is also the opinion of these authors that most of the positive findings obtained by coprology in the dog are those of eggs present due to consumption of infected faeces from Dicrocoelium infected animals. The above authors also mention the therapy using albendazol at the dose of 15-20 ACTA VET. BRNO 2006, 75: 289–293 Address for correspondence: MVDr. Jan Nesvadba, Senior Langnaustrasse 35 3532 ZÄZIWIL Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] http://www.vfu.cz/acta-vet/actavet.htm