Table 1.
Microfilariae species identified by histochemical staining and partially confirmed by PCRa | Total number and origin of dogs | Mean length ± standard deviation (μm) | Mean width ± standard deviation (μm) |
---|---|---|---|
Dirofilaria immitis |
60 (GR 1; IT 6; PT 33; ES 16; TR 2; UO 2) |
301.77 ± 6.29 |
6.30 ± 0.26 |
Dirofilaria repens |
171 (BG 1; FR 1; GR 5; IT 10; RO 3; ES 2; HU 141; UO 8) |
369.44 ± 10.76 |
8.87 ± 0.58 |
Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides |
133 (PT 69; ES 55; UO 9) |
259.43 ± 6.69 |
5.09 ± 0.47 |
Acanthocheilonema reconditum | 13 (IT 13) | 264.83 ± 5.47 | 4.63 ± 0.52 |
Mean length and mean width (μm) of microfilariae determined after fixation with the modified Knott’s technique of confirmed single filarial infections in 377 dogs.
IT, Italy; ES, Spain; GR, Greece; PT, Portugal; RO, Romania; HU, Hungary; BG, Bulgaria; TR, Turkey; FR, France; Unknown Origin: UO.
a PCR confirmation for 6 samples positive for D. immitis, 4 for D. repens, 7 for A. dracunculoides and 6 for A. reconditum infections.