Diagnostic spectrum

  • Troglostrongylus brevior - PCR

    • see also    =>     Lungworm Profil Cat (service ID 8790)

    Troglostrongylus brevior can also be detected using Baermann technique.

    General informartion

    Troglostrongylus brevior has been detected in cats in Italy, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece.

    This parasite is 0.6 to 1.7 cm in size and mainly infects wild felids such as lynx and wildcats, but also domestic cats. It has a life cycle similar to that of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus: The adults parasitise in the bronchi and bronchioles of the definitive hosts. There, females lay eggs from which the L1 larvae hatch. After they are coughed up, swallowed and excreted in the faeces, snails and slugs act as intermediate hosts. It is very likely that paratenic hosts are also involved in the transmission of the infective L3 larvae to cats.

    Lungworm infections can be asymptomatic, detection of lungworm larvae is often an incidental finding during routine coproscopic examinations. Mild to severe respiratory symptoms are also possible, including coughing, nasal discharge, tachypnoea and dyspnoea. Young animals are more frequently affected and usually suffer more severely.