Prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis Infection in Dogs in Maiduguri, Borno State

Kingsley U. Ezema1, Muhammad Mustapha2 *, Ismaila A. Mairiga2, Mohammed Konto3 ,Yachilla M. Bukar-Kolo2 and Lawan Adamu2

1Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri.
2Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri
3Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri

*Corresponding author: tanimuzimbos@gmail.com, doi.org/10.55639/607.5243


ABSTRACT

Dirofilaria immitis infection is a major potential life threatening disease of dogs with worldwide distribution and of zoonotic importance. This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of D. immitis. A total of 250 blood samples were randomly collected from dogs in the study area. The examination for D. immitis infection was carried out based on the conventional and immunological procedures using wet mount and Buffy coat methods. The total prevalence of D. immitis was 100 (40.00%). The prevalence of D. immitis in the adult dogs was 62 (24.80%) while, in the young dogs was 38 (15.20%). The prevalence of D. immitis in the male dogs was 54 (21.60%) while, 46 (18.40%) was the prevalence of the female dogs. The prevalence of outdoor dogs was 64 (25.60%) while, that of the indoor dogs was 36 (14.40%). The dogs with thin body condition scores had a prevalence of 80 (32.00%) while, the overweight (obesed) dogs were 20 (8.00%). However, the prevalence of D. immitis is higher in the adult, male and outdoor dogs compared to the young, female and indoor dogs. Therefore, the present study revealed a high prevalence of D. immitis infection in the study area.

Keywords:

Dogs,
Dirofilaria immitis,
Prevalence rate,
Zoonosis