Serological survey for canine angiostrongylosis in Slovakia

In recent years Angiostrongylus vasorum has become another important heart parasite of dogs besides Dirofilaria immitis, with intense spread into new areas of Europe. The first two cases of canine angiostrongylosis in Slovakia were observed in 2013, demonstrating that this life-threatening parasitic disease of dogs has expanded into this territory too. One year after the first A. vasorum findings, a serological survey was conducted to assess the current distribution of this parasitic infection in dogs from Slovakia. Serum samples from 225 dogs were collected from 29 veterinary practices situated in 22 districts of Slovakia and tested by ELISA for the presence of circulating A. vasorum antigens and additionally for the detection of specific antibodies against A. vasorum. Fourteen samples (6.22 %) were seropositive in at least one ELISA. Of these, 7 dogs (3.11 %) were only antibody-positive and 4 dogs (1.78 %) were positive only for circulating A. vasorum antigen. Three animals out of 225 examined (1.33 %) were positive in both ELISAs. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2015-0034 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-112694 Published Version Originally published at: Miterpakova, M; Schnyder, Manuela; Schaper, Roland; Hurnikova, Z; Cabanova, V (2015). Serological survey for canine angiostrongylosis in Slovakia. Helminthologia, 52(3):205-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2015-0034 ©2015 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice DOI 10.1515/helmin-2015-0034 205 HELMINTHOLOGIA, 52, 3: 205 – 210, 2015 Serological survey for canine angiostrongylosis in Slovakia M. MITERPÁKOVÁ1*, M. SCHNYDER2, R. SCHAPER3, Z. HURNÍKOVÁ1, 4, V. ČABANOVÁ1 1Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia, *E-mail: [email protected]; 2Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 266a, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; 3Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Monheim, 6210, 51368 Leverkusen, Germany; 4University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenského 73, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia