Grosbois Amélia, Risco-Castillo Veronica, Davoust Bernard, Laidoudi Younes, Crozet Guillaume, Watier-Grillot Stéphanie
Anses, Ecole nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, EPIMIM, F94700 Maisons-Alfort, France; 22(e) Groupe vétérinaire de Bordeaux, 5 rue Saint Nicolas, 33800 Bordeaux, France.
Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, UMR BIPAR (EnvA-Anses-INRAe), 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, Biopôle Alfort, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France.
Parasitol Int. 2025 Dec;109:103105. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2025.103105. Epub 2025 Jun 6.
Dirofilaria (D.) immitis and D. repens are mosquito-borne nematodes that can cause heartworm disease and skin nodules, respectively in infected dogs. These parasites may also be responsible for minor zoonoses. Infections caused by these agents are widely distributed throughout the world and have already been reported in mainland France, especially in the south. Both parasites are associated with animal and public health concerns in France. Military working dogs are often exposed to them during their missions throughout the world, and prophylactic measures are therefore well established. To gain a better understanding of the situation among these dogs, a prevalence survey was carried out on a representative sample of 250 military working dogs. Blood samples were analyzed using a rapid test for the detection of D. immitis adult antigens, and modified Knott's test for microfilariae identification. Data on dog exposure to vectors and on their living behaviors were also collected with a survey questionnaire. For one dog (0.4 %), a positive result for D. immitis was obtained with the rapid diagnostic test, and another dog (0.4 %) was found to be positive for D. repens with the modified Knott's test. However, only D. repens infection was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. These dogs were living in outdoor kennels, which could increase their exposure to mosquito vectors in enzootic areas, and thus to the parasites, further reinforced by their predominantly outdoor operational activities. Nevertheless, the low observed prevalences may reflect the effectiveness of stringent prevention measures in this specific population, or a generally low level of transmission in the general canine population in France-albeit insufficiently documented due to limited surveillance data-or again, limitations related to the imperfect diagnostic methods employed in this study.
犬恶丝虫和匐行恶丝虫是由蚊子传播的线虫，分别可在感染的犬类中引起心丝虫病和皮肤结节。这些寄生虫也可能导致轻微的人畜共患病。由这些病原体引起的感染在世界各地广泛分布，在法国大陆尤其是南部地区已有报道。这两种寄生虫在法国都与动物和公共卫生问题相关。军犬在世界各地执行任务期间经常接触到它们，因此预防措施已经很完善。为了更好地了解这些犬类的情况，对250只军犬的代表性样本进行了患病率调查。使用快速检测法分析血样以检测犬恶丝虫成虫抗原，并使用改良的Knott氏试验鉴定微丝蚴。还通过调查问卷收集了有关犬类接触媒介及其生活行为的数据。通过快速诊断测试，有一只犬（0.4%）的犬恶丝虫检测呈阳性，另一只犬（0.4%）通过改良的Knott氏试验检测匐行恶丝虫呈阳性。然而，只有匐行恶丝虫感染通过聚合酶链反应得到证实。这些犬生活在室外犬舍中，这可能会增加它们在动物疫病流行地区接触蚊子媒介的机会，从而增加感染寄生虫的可能性，而它们主要在室外的活动进一步加剧了这种情况。尽管如此，观察到的低患病率可能反映了针对这一特定群体的严格预防措施的有效性，或者法国一般犬类群体中总体传播水平较低——尽管由于监测数据有限记录不足——或者再次反映了本研究中使用的诊断方法不完善所带来的局限性。
