Prevention of Lactogenic Toxocara cati Infections in Kittens by Application of an Emodepside/Praziquantel Spot-on (Profender®) to the Pregnant Queen.

Claudia Böhm,Roland Schaper,Gabriele Petry,Christina Strube,Sonja Wolken

doi:10.1007/s00436-015-4523-y

Claudia Böhm, Roland Schaper + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4523-y

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an emodepside 2.1 % (w/v)/praziquantel 8.6 % (w/v) topical solution (Profender® spot-on for cats) in the prevention of lactogenic Toxocara cati infections. A controlled test was performed with two groups of 8 cats with confirmed pregnancy. All cats were infected with daily doses of 2000 T. cati eggs for 10 consecutive days starting 50 days post conception to produce an acute infection. Treatment was performed 60 days post conception. Queens in the treatment group received the emodepside/praziquantel solution at the minimum therapeutic dose (3 mg/kg emodepside and 12 mg/kg praziquantel), while the control group was treated with a placebo spot-on. Efficacy was evaluated 56 days post partum by necropsy of one randomly selected kitten of each litter and comparison of the worm burdens between the study groups. Additionally the necropsy results were supported by quantification of worms expelled with the faeces after deworming of the remaining kittens and all queens. The treatment in late pregnancy resulted in an efficacy of 98.7 % (p < 0.0001). All necropsied control kittens were infected (geometric mean 30.6). Seven of 8 kittens from treated mothers were free of T. cati (geometric mean 0.4). Worm counts after deworming reflected the results obtained at necropsy. No side effects of the treatment were observed. It is concluded that treatment with an emodepside/praziquantel spot-on solution during late pregnancy effectively prevents lactogenic transmission of T. cati to the offspring. The study design facilitated the generation of reliable data, while at the same time a minimum number of animals was sacrificed.

Highlights

Vertical transmission, i.e. transmission of developmental stages from the infected mother to the offspring either prenatally or by the transmammary pathway, is a major component in the life cycles of several species of parasitic helminths (Miller 1981; Shoop 1991)
In several species the transmission of hypobiotic larvae that are reactivated during late pregnancy is a pathway of great biological importance. These larvae invade the foetuses directly or accumulate in the mammary glands to be transmitted via the milk after parturition. While both ways of vertical transmission occur in bitches chronically infected with Toxocara canis, Toxocara cati has only been shown to be lactogenically transmitted after acute infection during late pregnancy (Coati et al 2004) (Fig. 1)
The duration of pregnancy was within physiological limits (Linde-Forsberg and Eneroth 1998) and varied between 63 and 68 days in the investigational veterinary product (IVP)-treated group and between 64 and 69 days in the control group

Summary

Introduction

I.e. transmission of developmental stages from the infected mother to the offspring either prenatally or by the transmammary pathway, is a major component in the life cycles of several species of parasitic helminths (Miller 1981; Shoop 1991). It occurs predominantly in nematodes, but some trematode species such as Alaria spp. In several species the transmission of hypobiotic larvae that are reactivated during late pregnancy is a pathway of great biological importance These larvae invade the foetuses directly or accumulate in the mammary glands to be transmitted via the milk after parturition. In a study by Barutzki and Schaper (2013) Infection rates of up to

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