Dirofilaria immitis is the causative agent of heartworm disease. Reports of macrocyclic lactone inefficacy prompted an investigation of genetic polymorphism in D. immitis. Currently, there is a lack of genetic information for this parasite. Information on baseline levels of genetic heterogeneity in the dog heartworm would have important implications for the possible development of macrocyclic l...

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT tes...

Inbred strains of mice were infected intraperitoneally with Coccidioides immitis, and the mean lethal dose was determined after 28 days. DBA/2N mice had a mean lethal dose of greater than 10(5) arthroconidia, whereas BALB/cAnN, C57BL/6N, and C57L/J mice had a mean lethal dose of less than or equal to 10(3). Since both BALB/c and DBA/2 mice are the H-2d haplotype, resistance is not primarily det...

The seropositivity of dogs to Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia canis antibodies, and Dirofilaria immitis antigen was assessed in Canada. Borrelia burgdorferi had the highest seroprevalence, while that of Dirofilaria immitis has not changed significantly in the past 20 y. The risk for these vector-borne infectious agents in Canadian dogs is low but widespread with f...

A case of human intraocular dirofilariasis is reported from northern Brazil. The nematode was morphologically and phylogenetically related to Dirofilaria immitis but distinct from reference sequences, including those of D. immitis infesting dogs in the same area. A zoonotic Dirofilaria species infesting wild mammals in Brazil and its implications are discussed.

Dirofilaria immitis is an important filarial nematode in dogs. In this study, age and sex distribution of this zoonotic nematode among dogs were investigated in northwest of Iran in Meshkin-Shahr city. Molecular characteristics of the isolates, based on cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) gene were compared to the isolates from other areas of the world.Blood samples were collected from...

BACKGROUND Dirofilaria repens and D. immitis are filarioid helminths with domestic and wild canids as main hosts and mosquitoes as vectors. Both species are known to cause zoonotic diseases, primarily pulmonary (D. immitis), ocular (D. repens), and subcutaneous (D. repens) dirofilariosis. Both D. immitis and D. repens are known as invasive species, and their distribution seems associated with c...

Background: Dirofilaria immitis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic, vector-borne parasite of carnivorous animals causing dirofilariasis in human beings. Common commercial serodiagnostic tests for canine dirofilariasis usually lead to different results in their sensitivity and specificity. The present study reports development of recombinant DgK (rDgK) antigen of D. immitis for accurate immunodiagnosis o...

Iran is one of the endemic areas of Dirofilariasis, and also one of the most important zoonotic infections. Dirofilaria immitis causes a severe and fatal disease called heartworm disease in dog. It also produces pulmonary nodules in humans. The worm is to be investigated as a potential infection of humans and animals in various provinces in Iran. In this research, the samples were ...

Tick-borne diseases are of great concern worldwide. Despite this, in Romania there is only limited information regarding the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in dogs. In all, 1146 serum samples were tested by SNAP(®) 4Dx(®) (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Westbrook, ME) for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Ehrlichia canis antibodies, and for Dirofilaria immitis antigen. The c...