A 3-year retrospective analysis of canine intestinal parasites: fecal testing positivity by age, U.S. geographical region and reason for veterinary visit.
BACKGROUND
Canine life stage is a key factor in parasite prevalence as clinical signs associated with parasitism are more common in pups. In adult dogs, health status and geographical region may also play a role in parasite prevalence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate fecal test results using zinc sulfate flotation by centrifugation combined with fecal antigen testing for hookworms (Ancylostoma spp. Uncinaria stenocephala), ascarids (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris spp., Baylisascaris spp.) and whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) sorted by age, geographical region and veterinary visit type.


METHODS
A retrospective sample of intestinal parasite panels submitted to IDEXX Laboratories from 1,626,104 individual dogs were selected from the continental USA from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019. These data contain results from fecal exams performed using zinc sulfate flotation by centrifugation paired with coproantigen immunoassay results for hookworms, ascarids, whipworms and Giardia (Fecal Dx® with Giardia coproantigen immunoassay plate). For paired testing, if either the coproantigen assay or flotation test was positive, the sample was considered to be positive. Data were summarized by age category, U.S. Census Bureau geographical region (Northeast, South, Midwest, West) and veterinary visit type. Visit types were subdivided into Wellness Visits and Other Clinical Visits in which a fecal sample was submitted.


RESULTS
In dogs presenting for either Wellness Visits or Other Clinical Visits in which Giardia testing was included, Giardia had the highest positivity (combined results for microscopy and coproantigen: 12.2 and 10.8%, respectively), followed by hookworms (combined microscopy and coproantigen: 4.1 and 4.2%, respectively), ascarids (combined microscopy and coproantigen: 2.5 and 1.7%, respectively) and whipworms (combined microscopy and coproantigen: 1.1 and 1.4%, respectively). When all test results were pooled together, pups aged 2-6 months were observed to have the highest proportion of positive results by either microscopy or coproantigen immunoassay regardless of clinical visit type. Parasite positivity varied by geographical region. Regardless of visit type, age or geographical region, the coproantigen method was observed to find a higher proportion of positive test results than microscopy in Giardia, ascarids, hookworms and whipworms.


CONCLUSIONS
The Fecal Dx® coproantigen immunoassay combined with the zinc sulfate flotation by centrifugation method uncovers a higher number of positive hookworm, ascarid and whipworm infections than zinc sulfate flotation alone in both pups and adult dogs across all geographical regions of the USA regardless of visit type.
['Sweet|Sarah|S|', 'Hegarty|Evan|E|', 'McCrann|Donald J|DJ|', 'Coyne|Michael|M|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4107-2353', 'Kincaid|Dave|D|', 'Szlosek|Donald|D|']
D000723:Ancylostomatoidea D000818:Animals D000947:Antigens, Helminth D001197:Ascaridia D002498:Centrifugation D004283:Dog Diseases D004285:Dogs D005243:Feces D005843:Geography D006762:Hospitals, Animal D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic D010271:Parasites D015995:Prevalence D012189:Retrospective Studies D014114:Toxascaris D014258:Trichuris D014481:United States D019287:Zinc Sulfate
Canine Parasitism Fecal Dog Flotation Hookworms Ascarids Whipworms Coproantigen Giardia