Incidence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs presented at University of Nigeria, Nsukka Veterinary Teaching Hospital using wet smear and buffy coat techniques

Objective: To determine the incidence of Dirofilaria immitis (D. immitis) in dogs using the\udwet mount and buffy coat techniques for rapid detection of microfilaria in blood samples\udcollected from dogs, to compare the two techniques for quick detection, to find if there is age\udsusceptibility in the incidence of dirofilariasis in dogs presented at the Veterinary Teaching\udHospital, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and to find out if there are breed and sex variations in\udthe incidence of dirofilariasis in dogs presented at Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of\udNigeria, Nsukka.\udMethods: Blood samples were collected from the cephalic vein of 119 dogs. The blood\udsamples were aseptically collected via cephalic venepuncture of each dog, collected into a tube\udcontaining ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid as anticoagulant, stored in an ice pack box at 5 °C\udand processed and examined for microfilaria using wet mount and buffy coat techniques.\udResults: A total of 4 dogs were positive for D. immitis microfilaria giving a prevalence of 3.36%,\udmore male (4.83%) than female (1.75%) dogs were affected in this study. Although there was\udno significant difference between both groups, the prevalence was the highest in cross breeds\ud(6.66%), moderate in local breeds (3.63%) and absent in exotic breeds (0.00%). Although there\udwas no significant (P < 0.05) difference amongst the 3 groups, only adult dogs were found\udpositive for D. immitis microfilaria.\udConclusions: Based on the results of this present study, both the wet mount and buffy coat\udtechniques can be used at the discretion of the clinician and in the absence of modified Knott’s\udfilter test, ELISA test and other diagnostic imaging techniques, in the rapid detection of\udmicrofilaria in blood samples from suspected cases of dirofilariasis