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Mosquito-borne heartworm Dirofilaria immitis in dogs from Australia

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, October 2016
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (95th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

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7 news outlets
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4 X users
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2 Facebook pages

Citations

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23 Dimensions

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66 Mendeley
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Title
Mosquito-borne heartworm Dirofilaria immitis in dogs from Australia
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, October 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13071-016-1821-x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Chloe Nguyen, Wei Ling Koh, Andrea Casteriano, Niek Beijerink, Christopher Godfrey, Graeme Brown, David Emery, Jan Šlapeta

Abstract

Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) in dogs is considered endemic in Australia, but the clinical heartworm disease caused by the heartworm is rare and prevalence is low. The mainstream prevention of the heartworm is based on macrocyclic lactone (ML) administration. The aim of this study was to confirm endemism of the heartworm under current Australian conditions using a cohort of recent microfilaria-positive dogs which were on variable heartworm prevention. A hotspot of canine heartworm antigen-positive and microfilaria-positive dogs has been detected recently in Queensland, Australia. Blood samples from 39 dogs from Queensland and two dogs from New South Wales were investigated for canine filarioids. Rapid antigen diagnostic tests capable of detection of D. immitis and real-time PCR for quantification and differentiation between D. immitis from Acanthocheilonema reconditum with quantification of microfilariae in canine blood samples, together with D. immitis specific real-time PCR assay, were applied to microfilaria-positive dogs. The P-glycoprotein genotype was determined to test whether Australian-sourced heartworm shared the same genetic markers as those suspected of ML-resistance in North America. Only D. immitis was detected in the samples from Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Using high resolution melt real-time PCR and D. immitis specific real-time PCR, the calculated microfilaria concentration ranged from 1 to 44,957 microfilariae/ml and from 7 to 60,526 microfilariae/ml, respectively. DNA sequencing of the PCR products confirmed D. immitis. Fifteen of the examined dogs were on putative, rigorous ML prevention. For the remaining dogs, compliance with heartworm prevention was unknown or reported as inconsistent. Wild-type genotype AA-GG of the P-glycoprotein locus of D. immitis sequence has been obtained for three blood samples. Due to the incomplete history, any suggestion of a loss of efficacy of MLs must be treated as 'remotely possible'. In the immediate future, records of preventative administration and annual antigen testing would be required to determine any problems with the efficacy of preventatives. The prevalence of canine heartworm in Australia remains poorly understood. It is generally assumed to be low by veterinary practitioners. The localised increase in the study area confirms endemism of canine heartworm and a requirement for ongoing vigilance through annual heartworm testing to better understand the changing distribution of canine heartworm, client compliance, as well as to detect any change in ML-susceptibility.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 66 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 66 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 18 27%
Student > Bachelor 9 14%
Researcher 8 12%
Student > Ph. D. Student 6 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 2 3%
Other 8 12%
Unknown 15 23%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 14 21%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 9 14%
Nursing and Health Professions 5 8%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 8%
Immunology and Microbiology 4 6%
Other 11 17%
Unknown 18 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 56. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 October 2022.
All research outputs
#726,845
of 24,601,689 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#73
of 5,786 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#14,179
of 326,281 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#2
of 97 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,601,689 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,786 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.0. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 326,281 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 97 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.