Improved veterinary diagnostics for tapeworms

狗可以感染几种绦虫，但没有明显的症状。绦虫是通过检测从狗的粪便中排出的寄生虫产生的微小虫卵来重新诊断的。然而，这项技术并不理想，因为虫卵并不总是在粪便中传播，不同的绦虫产生的卵子非常相似，这需要有经验的诊断专家。因此，假阴性现象很常见。人们对直接检测狗粪便中寄生虫DNA的技术越来越感兴趣。AquilaDiagnostics Systems Inc.开发了一种用于兽医临床的护理点绦虫检测方法，该方法可以快速检测绦虫DNA(AcutasVET绦虫DNA试剂盒)。这项测试的有效性尚未通过将该测试应用于已知感染了确认的绦虫物种的犬类样本，也未应用于含有可能发生交叉反应的其他寄生虫的样本来证实。该公司目前验证新测试的唯一方法是对照传统的绦虫卵粪便漂浮，这本身就存在缺陷。我们可以获取捕获的野生犬类(狐狸、郊狼和狼)，我们将比较最终绦虫回收、粪便漂浮卵子检测和AcutasVET绦虫DNA试剂盒的结果。由于犬类与犬类含有相同种类的绦虫，这对兽医和兽医诊断实验室具有重要的应用价值，从而能够快速诊断和治疗受感染的犬类。这项工作对保护公共卫生也有意义，因为加拿大的狗身上有一些绦虫(棘球绦虫)。取消人们严重的健康问题。因此，我们将专门将Aquila产品的性能与拟议的欧洲新的基于DNA的多房棘球绦虫金标准检测进行比较。我们的联合研究将有助于改进和优化Aquila Accuas VET产品，扩大该产品的应用范围和监管要求，并为开发新的商业产品奠定基础。最后，这项研究项目将产生关于可传播给加拿大人和狗的寄生虫的分布和影响的新知识。

Dogs can be infected with several species of tapeworms, but show no obvious symptoms. Tapeworms aregenerally diagnosed by detection of microscopic eggs produced by the parasites that are passed in the dog'sstool. However, this technique is not ideal, as eggs are not always passed in stool, different tapeworms producevisually similar eggs, and this requires an experienced diagnostician. Therefore, false negatives are common.There is increasing interest in techniques to directly detect DNA of parasites in stool of dogs. AquilaDiagnostics Systems Inc. has developed a point of care tapeworm test for use in veterinary clinics that wouldenable rapid detection of DNA of tapeworms (the AccutasVET Tapeworm DNA kit). The utility of this test hasnot been confirmed by applying the test to samples from canids known to be infected with confirmed tapewormspecies, nor to samples that contain other parasites that could cross react. The only way the company cancurrently validate the new test is against traditional fecal flotation for tapeworm eggs, which is in itself flawed.We have access to trapped wild canids (foxes, coyotes, and wolves) for which we will compare results ofintestinal tapeworm recovery, egg detection on fecal flotation, and the AccutasVET Tapeworm DNA kit. Sincewild canids harbour the same species of tapeworms as dogs, this has important applications for veterinariansand veterinary diagnostic laboratories, allowing rapid diagnosis and treatment of infected dogs. This work alsohas implications for protecting public health as some tapeworms in dogs in Canada (Echinococcus spp.) cancause serious health problems in people. Consequently, we will specifically compare the performance of theAquila product with the proposed new European gold standard DNA-based test for Echinococcusmultilocularis. Our joint research will serve to improve and optimize the Aquila AccutasVET product, lead toexpanded applications and regulatory claims for this product, and lay the groundwork for development of newcommercial products. Finally, this research project will generate new knowledge on the distribution and impactof parasites transmissible to people and dogs in Canada.