Identification of factors associated with clinically severe angiostrongyliasis.

Angiostrongyliasis is a globally distributed parasitic disease. Early and accurate identification of patients with severe infection is required. In this retrospective study, 81 patients with angiostrongyliasis were divided into two groups: 24 patients with severe disease and 57 with mild disease. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with severe disease. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, κ tests, and χ(2) tests were performed. The factors analyzed included: headache (P = 0.013), abnormal cerebrospinal fluid pressure (P = 0.013), and abnormal peripheral blood eosinophil count (P = 0.007). The area under the ROC curve for the activation criteria for angiostrongyliasis (ACA) was 0.914, with a score of ≥ 7 points predicting a severe state; the κ value was 0.744. The incidence of severe angiostrongyliasis increased with increasing score. ACA is a useful tool with high accuracy and reliability for predicting the severity of angiostrongyliasis.

Prevalence study of the lungworm Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in stray cats of Portugal.

In this study we have investigated the prevalence of aelurostrongylosis, one of the most common feline pulmonary parasitic diseases, in cats from the north-west region of Portugal. For this purpose, 97 faecal samples were collected from cats at risk of being infected by Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in an animal shelter and in a municipal facility. Using the Baermann-Wetzel coprological technique, faecal shedding of first stage larvae (L1) was detected in 17.4% of the cats. Based on this result, it can be concluded that this lungworm infection seems to be common among feral cats in the north-west region of Portugal, in spite of the fact that clinical aelurostrongylosis is not frequently diagnosed by feline practitioners in the area. This parasitic disease should be included in the differential diagnosis of cats presenting with coughing or dyspnoea, and it also should be extended to asymptomatic animals with pulmonary nodules detected by image diagnosis.

The first record of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Angistrongylidae: Nematoda) in Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx L.) from Poland based on fecal analysis.

MATERIAL: Thirty eight fecal samples of Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx L.) collected in Bialowieza Primeval Forest (E Poland) in years 2001-2004 were analysed. RESULTS: The presence of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (L1) larvae was evidenced by use of decantation and flotation methods. The general prevalence of the infection recorded during the study was 21.1%, whereas mean intensity was 11,5 (1-33 larvae per sample). To our knowledge, this is the first case of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus recorded in Euroasian lynx from Poland.