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. 2006 Dec;53(10):482-7.
doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0450.2006.00973.x.

Canine isosporosis - epidemiology of field and experimental infections

Affiliations

Canine isosporosis - epidemiology of field and experimental infections

I E Buehl et al. J Vet Med B Infect Dis Vet Public Health. 2006 Dec.

Abstract

Isospora spp. are the causative agents of canine isosporosis. Of the 3590 diagnostic samples from Austrian dogs (< or = 2 years old), 8.7% contained Isospora oocysts, 78% of which from dogs up to 4 months of age. Non-haemorrhagic and haemorrhagic diarrhoea were significantly more prevalent in Isospora-infected animals than in coccidia-negative ones. Twelve of 15 litters from a large commercial dog breeding unit (examined from the third to the 10th week of life) also excreted Isospora (average prevalence: 36.4%) in intensities from 333 to 35,000 oocysts per gram of faeces (opg). In experimental trials 26 3-week-old Beagle puppies were infected with low (600-6000), medium (10,000) or high (20,000) dose of Isospora ohioensis-group or Isospora canis field isolates. Additionally 21 puppies were infected as above and treated with a symmetrical triazintrione. Parasitological and clinical parameters were examined. The two Isospora species differed significantly concerning intensity and duration of excretion. The pre-patent period was 6-7 days for I. ohioensis and 10-12 days for I. canis. The latter species showed significantly longer excretion and higher opg. This was not influenced by simultaneous infections with both species. Individual patterns of faecal consistency were very variable, irrespective of the infection dose. Treatment significantly reduced both the intensity and the duration of oocysts excretion as well as diarrhoea in comparison with the infected, untreated group and thus proved to be effective against coccidiosis in experimental infections.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Retrospective study on the distribution of parasites in positive diagnostic dog samples (n = 1145).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of diarrhoea in diagnostic samples from clinical cases with or without isosporosis or other endoparasitic infections (n = 359).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Semi‐quantitative evaluation of excretion intensity and species distribution in the positive faecal samples from the dog breeding unit. Low: one to three oocysts; medium: four to six oocysts; high: more than six oocysts per field of vision.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Course of oocysts excretion prevalence (in %), excretion rates and intensity [given as mean Ln(opg + 1)] in the samples from a commercial dog breeding unit (n = 99 samples from 15 litters at 3–10 weeks of age).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Prevalences of oocyst excretion after experimental infection with I. canis (n = 18) or I. ohioensis (n = 18).
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Median opg (and quartiles) in different triazinone treatment groups. ‘no’ = untreated (n = 26), A = treatment 8 dpi, 20 mg/kg (n = 5), B = treatment 4 dpi, 20 mg/kg (n = 9), C = treatment 4 dpi, 40 mg/kg (n = 7). (b) Percentage of excretion days in relation to sampling days in the different STT treatment groups.

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