Abstract
Dirofilariasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease, which its cause Dirofilaria immitis, a nematode transmitted by insects and a worldwide dissemination. Dogs and cats are the main hosts of this parasite. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of D. immitis in shepherd and stray dogs in Iranshahr city, southeast of Iran. In this study 49 shepherd dogs and 50 stray dogs selected randomly and the blood samples were taken and sent to parasitology laboratory. Thin and thick thin blood samples were prepared and stained with Giemsa method and modified knott method. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS 18 statistical software. The overall prevalence of parasite was 30.3%, seven of 49 shepherd dogs (14/3%) and twenty three of 50 stray dogs (46%) were positive. From 30 positive samples, 14.3% of shepherd dogs and 50% of stray dogs were male, and 44.7% of stray dogs were female. 14% of infected shepherd dogs and 38.5% of infected stray dogs were indigenous, and 16.7% of infected shepherd dogs and 72.7% of infected stray dogs were hybrids. There was no statistically significant relationship between the prevalence of D. immitis with age, gender, breed and usage of anti-parasitic drugs. Due to the relatively high contamination of dogs in the city of Iranshahr with this parasite, veterinarians and public health professionals should be considered necessary and preventive measures in relation to this disease.
Highlights
Dirofilariasis is a common disease between humans and animals, which causes by Dirofilaria immitis, a nematode that can be transmitted by insects and it spread worldwide
In order to determine the prevalence of dirofilariasis, shepherd dogs from Iranshahr villages in Balouchestan and stray dogs randomly collected by the cooperation of municipality during the summer of 2017, and their blood samples were collected
The results of this study showed that the prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis increases with age
Summary
Dirofilariasis is a common disease between humans and animals, which causes by Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm), a nematode that can be transmitted by insects and it spread worldwide. Human may be infected with the larval stage as an intermediate host, and so far several human cases have been reported from the United States, Japan and Iran (Ettinger and Feldman 2005). Adult nematode forms are seen in the right pulmonary and right ventricular arteries of dogs and the larval stage of the parasite (microfilariae) can be transmitted to the vertebrate hosts such as human and animals through the mosquito bite (Anopheles and Culex). Human is an accidental host for D. immitis nematode, pulmonary dirofilariasis and ectopic infections have been reported frequently from humans. More than 1700 human cases of dirofilariasis have been recorded worldwide, with more than 370 cases of pulmonary disease
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