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Simultaneous infection by four feline lungworm species and implications for the diagnosis

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ABSTRACT

Besides Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, other parasites belonging to the superfamily Metastrongyloidea, namely Oslerus rostratus, Troglostrongylus brevior and to the family Trichuridae, i.e. Eucoleus aerophilus (syn. Capillaria aerophila), have also been reported as agents of respiratory infection in domestic cats. A case of simultaneous infection by four feline lungworm species in Sardinia is herein described. An adult female cat (Felis silvestris catus), road-killed in the southeast part of Sardinia (municipality of Villacidro, province of Cagliari), Italy, was referred to the Laboratory of Parasitology of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Sassari. At necropsy, the lungs were examined and dissected under a stereomicroscope for the presence of parasites, and first-stage larvae (L1) of broncho-pulmonary nematodes were searched for in a faecal sample using the Baermann method. Parasites collected in the lungs were morphologically identified as A. abstrusus, E. aerophilus, and O. rostratus. In addition to the above species, L1s of Troglostrongylus spp. were detected at coproscopy but no adult specimen was found in the lungs. The morphological identification was confirmed by the molecular amplification and sequencing of cox1 mitochondrial gene, 18S and ITS2 ribosomal DNA. This finding stands as the first simultaneous infection by four feline lungworm species in the same animal, and as the first report of O. rostratus and E. aerophilus in Sardinia.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Regional Government of Sardinia, prot. CRP2 134 (L.R. 7, 2007).

Conflict of interest

Authors declare to not have any financial, personal or other interest that could be influenced by data and information reported in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    A. Varcasia, C. Tamponi, A. P. Pipia & A. Scala

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy

    E. Brianti

  3. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Tortolì, Italy

    P. A. Cabras & M. Mereu

  4. Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy

    F. Dantas-Torres & D. Otranto

Authors
  1. A. Varcasia
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  2. E. Brianti
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  3. C. Tamponi
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  4. A. P. Pipia
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  5. P. A. Cabras
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  6. M. Mereu
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  7. F. Dantas-Torres
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  8. A. Scala
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  9. D. Otranto
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Correspondence to A. Varcasia.

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Varcasia, A., Brianti, E., Tamponi, C. et al. Simultaneous infection by four feline lungworm species and implications for the diagnosis. Parasitol Res 114, 317–321 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4207-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4207-z

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