Abstract
Elimination of microfilaria in dogs infected with zoonotic Dirofilaria repens would be desirable to reduce further spread. Moxidectin has demonstrated efficacy against microfilariae and safety in dogs infected with Dirofilaria immitis and could be an option for controlling D. repens microfilariae. A field study with 64 dogs previously confirmed positive for D. repens microfilaria was conducted in Hungary, in which a spot-on product (Advocate®, Bayer) was tested. Treatments were applied to 44 dogs once a month for 3 months (five dogs) or 6 months (22 dogs), alternatively every 2 weeks for 6 months (17 dogs). Twenty dogs remained untreated. Microfilaria counts were performed once a month and for a further 6 months following the last treatment. Two weeks after the first treatment, 38 of 44 dogs were microfilaria negative. Four weeks after the initial treatment, one dog still showed a low microfilaria count. Following the second treatment, all treated dogs were negative. This status was maintained during the 6-month observation period after the last treatment. These data demonstrate the successful long-lasting elimination of microfilariae. Moreover, it may be supposed that adult D. repens were killed based on the observation that no further microfilariae were seen up to 6 months after the end of the treatment period.
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Acknowledgements
Funding for this study was provided by Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany. We are grateful for the cooperation of the dog owners. The authors also sincerely wish to thank the Tibor Varga and Sándor Kelemen in the Budapest breeding farm for their technical assistance; Diana Krassóvári and Dr. Krisztina Varga for supporting the field work at the ambulances; Eszter Pálfi and Zsófia Pásztor for the animal carers at the Misina dog shelter; Tamás Farkas, the manager of the shelter in Pécs; the assistants in the Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Budapest, particularly Mónika Gyurkovszky; Dr. Frank Just and Dr. Pamela Beelitz from the Department of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology in Munich for performing the PCR analysis of the samples; statistician Marion Ocak for the statistical analysis. The studies were approved by the Hungarian government and comply with Hungarian laws.
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Fok, É., Jacsó, O., Szebeni, Z. et al. Elimination of Dirofilaria (syn. Nochtiella) repens microfilariae in dogs with monthly treatments of moxidectin 2.5%/imidacloprid 10% (Advocate®, Bayer) spot-on. Parasitol Res 106, 1141–1149 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1783-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1783-4