[Prevalence of lungworm D. arnfieldi (Cobbold 1884) in donkeys in Denmark and in horses in herds together with donkeys (author's transl)].

During a 5 months' period from January to May 1981 faecal samples of 176 donkeys from 59 herds all over the country were examined at the Institute of internal medicine, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen. In addition, the investigation also included 106 horses from 30 of the donkey herds and 34 horses hospitalized with symptoms of dyspnoea and chronic coughing. In all, 87.5% of the donkeys were shown to excrete D. arnfieldi larvae, often in very high numbers, and the larval excretion was the only symptom of lungworm infection. There was no significant correlation between larval excretion and age, sex or herd size. In horses, the frequency of D. arnfieldi infection was approximately the same in the horses from donkey herds and in horses hospitalized due to chronic cough (10.4% and 8.8% resp.). In contrast to the donkeys, the infection in horses was always accompanied by dyspnoea and coughing.