PREVALENCE OF CERTAIN VIRAL DISEASES AND DIROFILARIA IMMITIS INFECTION IN STRAY DOGS IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Background: Stray and pet dogs constitute the dog population in Bangladesh without any established dog statistics. Diseases of dogs are not only associated with morbidity and mortality in dogs but also associated with human health problems as zoonotic diseases. Inland reports on the prevalence of dog diseases are limited in Bangladesh and there is need to investigate diseases in both stray and pet dog populations. Objectives: The main objective is to determine the prevalence of Canine distemper (CD), Canine adenovirus- 1 (CAV-1), CAV-2, Canine influenza (CI) and Dirofilaria immitis (Heart worm infection = HWI) infection in stray dogs in Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: Blood, ocular and nasal samples were collected from each of 30 randomly caught stray dogs (11 male and 19 female) and of different ages, including growing (n = 3) and adult (n = 27) dogs in the district of Mymensingh in Bangladesh from January to June 2010. These samples were tested by using Antigen Test Kits (RapiGEN Inc, Korea). Results: All the 30 stray dogs showed negative results to CD, CAV-1 and CAV-2, whereas an overall high prevalence of CI (4/30; 13.33%) and HWI (15/30; 50.0%) were recorded. The higher prevalence of CI was recorded in growing (n = 2/3; 66.67%) than adult (n = 2/27; 7.41%) but it did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between male (n = 2/11; 18.18%) and female (n = 2/19; 10.53%) dogs. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher prevalence of D. immitis infection was recorded in adult (n = 15/27; 55.56%) than growing (0/3; 0.0%), male (n = 8/11; 72.73%) than female (n = 7/19; 36.84%) dogs. Conclusions: Further studies on CI and D. immitis are necessary on a large population of stray and pet small animals along with humans to ascertain their importance on health and zoonotic significance in Bangladesh. Key words: Viral diseases, Dirofilariasis, Stray dogs, Antigen test kits