Abstract
The efficacy of a monthly oral endectocide product, NexGard Spectra® (Merial), a combination of afoxolaner and milbemycin oxime, was evaluated in a flea (Ctenocephalides felis) challenge model for the prevention of Dipylidium caninum tapeworm infection in dogs. The efficacy of treatment with NexGard Spectra® was assessed in 10 dogs following weekly flea infestation with metacestode naturally infected fleas and compared with that in 10 untreated control dogs. The 100 fleas deposited weekly on each dog were not removed until Day 35, allowing enough time for their ingestion. The microscopical analysis of 30 fleas from the flea batches before each weekly challenge demonstrated that 10–33% of the fleas were infected by D. caninum cysticercoid larvae. The arithmetic mean flea count recorded was 47.7 for the 10 untreated dogs and 0 for the 10 treated dogs at Day 35. Based on the daily collection of expelled D. caninum proglottids by dogs during the 70 days of the study, 70% (7/10) of the control dogs and 0% (0/10) of the treated dogs were infected with D. caninum (p < 0.0031). Through its efficacy against fleas, NexGard Spectra® treatment provided indirect prevention of D. caninum infestation. No treatment-related adverse events were observed in dogs during this study.
Highlights
The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis Bouché, 1835, is widespread all over the world [10, 14, 15, 23]
Carnivores become infected through the ingestion of fleas containing infective cysticercoid larvae, and adult D. caninum are typically formed within 2–3 weeks and can stay alive in their hosts for up to 3 years
In order to do this, donor dogs infected with D. caninum, as confirmed by proglottid observation in faeces, were infested with C. felis fleas
Summary
The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis Bouché, 1835, is widespread all over the world [10, 14, 15, 23]. Once the adult flea emerges and infests a host, the metacestode quickly reactivates and matures into an infective metacestode stage in the flea within 1–3 days [20, 21, 24]. This development is temperature dependent (with an optimal temperature of 32 °C) and is related to the presence of the fleas on the host skin. Carnivores become infected through the ingestion of fleas containing infective cysticercoid larvae, and adult D. caninum are typically formed within 2–3 weeks and can stay alive in their hosts for up to 3 years.
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