Hermesmeyer M, Limberg-Child R K, Murphy A J, Mansfield L S
PC Veterinary Practice, St Clair, MI 48079, USA.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2000 Jul 15;217(2):211-2. doi: 10.2460/javma.2000.217.211.
To determine prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis infection among shelter cats.
Cross-sectional study.
239 cats euthanatized at an animal shelter in southeastern Michigan.
A gross necropsy focusing on the thoracic cavity, heart, lungs, and pulmonary vessels was performed within 5 hours after cats were euthanatized. Blood was collected directly from the heart of cats found to be infected and tested, using a filter test for microfilariae. Serum was tested for D immitis antigens by use of 2 antigen detection kits and for D immitis-specific antibodies by use of 2 antibody detection kits.
Cats ranged from approximately 4 months to 15 years old. Adult D immitis were found in 6 (2.5%) cats. Blood could not be recovered from 1 of the cats with heartworm infection. For the 5 other cats, results of the filter test were negative, and results of both antigen and both antibody tests were positive.
Results suggest that cats living in an urban area in the northern part of the United States have a low prevalence of adult D immitis infection. However, this is likely to be an underestimate of the true prevalence of infection, because no attempts were made to identify cats infected with larval or juvenile stages of D immitis.
确定庇护所猫体内犬恶丝虫感染的患病率。
横断面研究。
在密歇根州东南部一家动物庇护所实施安乐死的239只猫。
在猫实施安乐死后5小时内，对胸腔、心脏、肺和肺血管进行大体尸检。对发现感染的猫直接从心脏采血并使用微丝蚴过滤试验进行检测。使用2种抗原检测试剂盒检测血清中的犬恶丝虫抗原，使用2种抗体检测试剂盒检测犬恶丝虫特异性抗体。
猫的年龄范围约为4个月至15岁。在6只（2.5%）猫体内发现了成年犬恶丝虫。1只感染心丝虫的猫无法采集到血液。对于其他5只猫，过滤试验结果为阴性，抗原和抗体检测结果均为阳性。
结果表明，生活在美国北部城市地区的猫成年犬恶丝虫感染患病率较低。然而，这很可能低估了实际感染率，因为未尝试鉴定感染犬恶丝虫幼虫或幼年期的猫。
