COMPARISON OF MODIFIED FLOTAC AND BAERMANN TECHNIQUES FOR QUANTIFYING LUNGWORM LARVAE IN FREE-RANGING BIGHORN SHEEP (OVIS CANADENSIS) FECES, MONTANA, USA.
Lungworms are important parasites of wildlife and host infection status is often evaluated using coprologic techniques, most commonly the Baermann method. Recently, the FLOTAC® has emerged as a new tool for diagnosing lungworm infections, and methodologic comparison studies in domestic species suggest that this method outperforms many other established techniques. We compared a modified FLOTAC with the beaker-modified (bm)-Baermann to evaluate the relative performance of the two techniques for counting lungworm larvae in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) feces. Both methods generated equivalent larval counts and both were highly repeatable. The major difference between the two methods was that the FLOTAC was poorer at detecting mixed infections. The ultimate choice between using the FLOTAC and bm-Baermann methods for quantifying lungworm larvae in wildlife studies may depend on the specific nature of the research questions being addressed, balanced by practical constraints.
1  Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 E Green Street, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Paul W
PW
Snyder
2  Montana Conservation Science Institute, 5200 Upper Miller Creek Road, Missoula, Montana 59803, USA.
John T
JT
Hogg
1  Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 E Green Street, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.|3  Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 510 D.W. Brooks Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Vanessa O
VO
Ezenwa
D000818:Animals; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D009009:Montana / Q000453:epidemiology; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification*; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D034581:Sheep, Bighorn
Coprologic diagnosis; Ovis canadensis; nematode; parasite