title: Prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis and gastrointestinal helminths in cats euthanized at animal control agencies in northwest Georgia.
abstract: Cats euthanized at six northwest Georgia animal control agencies were examined for adult Dirofilaria immitis in heart and lung tissue and presence of gastrointestinal helminth ova by fecal flotation. D. immitis were found in 4 of 184 cats (2.1%). The prevalence of feline dirofilariasis in northwest Georgia was lower than that found in other studies conducted in the southeastern United States, but closer to the prevalences occurring in areas of similar topography. Heartworm antigen and antibody tests performed on batched serum samples resulted in low sensitivity and high specificity. Gastrointestinal helminth ova were found in 39.6% of the fecal samples examined and 6.1% of the samples contained two or more species.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Berry College, 2277 Martha Berry Highway, Mount Berry, GA 30149, USA. rcarleton@berry.edu
authors.forename: Renee E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Carleton
authors.forename: Mary Katherine
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tolbert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D002415:Cats; D004183:Dirofilaria immitis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004184:Dirofilariasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D037901:Euthanasia, Animal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D006374:Helminthiasis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006376:Helminths / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008168:Lung / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth