• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.311-316
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• 2009

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to collect data from the literatures reporting prevalence of canine heartworm (HW) infection in an effort to emphasize the preventive importance of the disease and to serve as baseline data for further studies related to the disease management. Fourteen studies regarding the prevalence of HW infection published during the 1996-2007 were identified using the meta-analytic approach, involving a total of 1,790 cases by microfilarial test and 3,277 cases by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigen test for adult worms. Data analysis was performed separately for pet and military dogs. The overall apparent prevalence of HW infection in pet dogs by microfilarial test and ELISA was 11.7% (183/1,563) and 16.5% (379/2,302), respectively (p < 0.001). No significant difference in prevalence by microfilaria and ELISA was observed between sexes whether assessed by data separately or pooled together. Compared to before 2000, the prevalence by microfilaria after 2000 has increased from 2.5% to 13.1% (p < 0.001), and the rate of adult worm has also increased from 9.9% to 20.3% (p < 0.001). The prevalence determined by ELISA was found to increase with age: 20.7% (n = 1,003) of dogs older than 2 years were positive, compared with 5.0% of dogs (n = 701) under 2 years of age (p < 0.001). Also, outdoor dogs showed significantly higher prevalence than indoor dogs (37.9% versus 3.4%; p < 0.001). For military dogs, the overall prevalence was 38.3% (87/227; 95% CI, 32.1 - 44.7%) by microfilarial test and 38.5% (375/975; 95% CI, 35.4 - 41.6%) by ELISA. This rate was significantly higher than that of pet dogs (p < 0.001). Occult infection rate of 37.5% and 66.7% was found in pet and military dogs, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.297-307
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• 2009

Animal shelters are potentially vulnerable to constant exposure to a variety of diseases for both animals and humans, because thousands of animals with unknown histories are being admitted to each shelter on a yearly basis in Korea. The control of disease spread, therefore, can be a major challenge to veterinarians in most shelters. This study investigated the health status of stray dogs admitted to the Gwangju Animal Shelter during the year of 2008, and analyzed types of disorders at the time of admission as well as newly acquired diseases while housed in the shelter. Canine heartworm disease was the most prevalent infection among stray dogs at the time of admission, while the respiratory disorder was the most common shelteracquired disease. The majority of dogs (93.5%) was either small or middle-sized breeds with Maltese (19.7%) and Shih Tzu (16.0%) being the most commonly found stray dogs. Out of 1,143 dogs admitted to the shelter, owners of 128 dogs (11.2%) visited the shelter and found their lost dogs, while 518 dogs (45.3%) were adopted to new families. Results of this study strongly indicate that stray dogs in Korea are exposed to a variety of diseases and the disease control by veterinarians is one of the most important aspects of the shelter management.