Prevalence of canine dirofilariosis in the City of Buenos Aires and its outskirts (Argentina)

ROSA, A.; RIBICICH, M.; BETTI, A.; KISTERMANN, J.C.; CARDILLO, N.; BASSO,N; HALLU, R.

VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2002 vol. 109 p. 261 - 264

0304-4017

During the past 10 years, the prevalence of canine dirofilariosis in the City of Buenos Airesand its outskirts, particularly in the northern and southern areas, has increased significantly. In thepresent work, studies were carried out in dogs living in the city and in its northern, western andsouthern outskirts from 1997 to 2001. For this purpose, 782 blood samples were collected andanalyzed to determine circulating antigen, processed with the Witness Merial antigen test. Thesamples resulted in negative tests for subjects who lived in the city; however, 17.7 and 23.5% ofthe tests were positive from the northern and southern outskirts, respectively. When analyzed bysex, positive results were distributed as follows: 62.5% males and 37.5% females (P < 0.05). Nosignificant statistical difference was found on comparing purebred and cross-breds (P <0.05). It isinteresting to point out the geographical distribution of the disease, which confirms that ecologicalfactors such as water currents, abundant vegetation and the existence of mosquitoes all year round,are important for the biological cycle of Dirofilaria immitis.