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Detection ofEchinococcus coproantigens by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in dogs, dingoes and foxes

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Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection ofEchinococcus coproantigens in fecal samples from dogs, dingoes or foxes infected with eitherE. granulosus orE. multilocularis. The ELISA was based on protein-A-purified polyclonal antibodies [anti-E. granulosus excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens]. The specificity of the assay as determined in 155 samples derived from carnivores that were free of helminth infection (n=37) or infected with non-Echinococcus cestodes (n=76) or with various nematodes (n=42) was found to be 98% overall. The diagnostic sensitivity was strongly dependent on the homologous worm burden. All 13 samples from foxes harboring >1,000E. multilocularis worms and 13 of 15 (87%) samples from dogs or dingoes containing >200E. granulosus worms were ELISA-positive, whereas 34 of 46 samples from foxes harboring <1,000E. multilocularis and 9 of 10 samples from dogs or dingoes bearing <200E. granulosus tested negative. Experimental prepatent infections of dogs withE. granulosus revealed positive ELISA reactions within the prepatent period (10–20 days post-infection) for six animals bearing >1,000E. granulosus each; a low worm burden (<1,000 tapeworms/animal) resulted in ELISA positivity in only 2 of 3 animals at 30 days post-infection at the earliest. All five dogs that had been experimentally infected withE. multilocularis tested positive in the coproantigen ELISA as early as on day 5 post-infection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    P. Deplazes, B. Gottstein, J. Eckert & D. Ewald

  2. Hydatid Control Campaign, P.O. Box 112, 2620, Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia

    D. J. Jenkins

  3. Consejeria de Salud, Consumo y Bienstar Social, C/Villamedina 17, 26071, Logrono (La Rioja), Spain

    S. Jimenez-Palacios

Authors
  1. P. Deplazes
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  2. B. Gottstein
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  3. J. Eckert
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  4. D. J. Jenkins
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  5. D. Ewald
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  6. S. Jimenez-Palacios
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Dedicated to Prof. K.T.F. Friedhoff on the occasion of his 60th birthday

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Deplazes, P., Gottstein, B., Eckert, J. et al. Detection ofEchinococcus coproantigens by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in dogs, dingoes and foxes. Parasitol Res 78, 303–308 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00937088

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