Open AccessDirofilaria repens in dogs from Assam, India
Author(s) -
Sonjoy Kumar Borthakur,
P. Roychoudhury,
Kanta Bhattacharjee,
Saidul Islam,
Diganta Deka,
Prabhat Chandra Sarmah
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(15)60812-x
Subject(s) - dirofilaria repens , repens , dirofilariasis , dirofilaria , veterinary medicine , dirofilaria immitis , biology , giemsa stain , pathology , medicine , helminths , zoology , botany
Objective: To access the prevalence of Dirofilaria repens (D. repens) in dogs from Assam,\udIndia.\udMethods: A total of 223 blood samples from local dogs were examined with conventional (wet\udfilm and Knott’s concentration technique), serological (ELISA test using Snap4Dx kits) and\udmolecular techniques (targeting internal transcribed spacer-2 region using panfilarial primers)\udin Guwahati, Assam, India.\udResults: The study revealed 4 (1.79%) cases of asymptomatic canine dirofilariasis caused by\udD. repens. The blood samples were positive for D. repens with microfilaremia on wet blood\udfilm, at Giemsa stained smear and under Knott’s concentration technique, but were negative at\udSnap®4Dx test (IDEXX Laboratory, Westbrook, USA) which is specific for Dirofiaria immitis.\udD. repens could be detected by molecular test. Further confirmation was obtained on the basis\udof DNA sequencing and homology searching by basic local alignment search tool. Sequence\udanalysis revealed that the species prevalent in Guwahati was genetically distinct from the other\udD. repens reported from elsewhere.\udConclusions: Occurrence of D. repens in dogs from this part of India was recorded for the\udfirst time, confirming the presence of a autochthonous canine reservoir for the zoonotic filarial\udnematode in Assam, India, where three cases of human subcutaneous and ocular infection with\udD. repens (dirofilariasis) have been reported