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Prevalence of Dirofillaria immitis in Raccoon Dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Korea  

Nam, Hyo-Seung (Section of Small Animal Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Jong-Taek (Section of Wildlife Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University)
Yang, Dong-Keun (Viral Disease Division, Animal, Plant and Fishery Quarantine Inspection Agency)
Hyun, Changbaig (Section of Small Animal Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Veterinary Clinics / v.30, no.6, 2013 , pp. 453-455 More about this Journal
Abstract
Heartworm infection is a fatal disease causing heart failure and pulmonary diseases in dogs. This heartworm infection can also occur in wild carnivores including Raccoon dogs. Recent study found that relatively high prevalence rate in wild Raccoon dog population. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the prevalence rate of D. immitis in free-roaming Raccoon dogs and the recovery rate of microfilariae in infected Raccoon dogs in Korea. Overall prevalence rate of D. immitis in Korean Raccoon dogs was 17.8%. Prevalence rate in male Raccoon dogs was 21.8%, while that in female Raccoon dogs was 12.8%. Microfilariae were not detected in 17 Raccoon dogs having positive in heartworm antigen test. Our study result suggested that the prevalence rate of D. immitis in Korea is twice higher than that of Japan. In addition, microfilaremia is rare in Raccoon dogs as commonly noticed in cats.
Keywords
Raccoon dogs; D. immitis; heartworm; microfilaria; prevalence rate;
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  • Reference
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