Cats are infected with a variety of internal parasites, some of which are zoonotic. Therefore, being able to effectively detect and determine prevalence of internal parasites in cats is important for both feline and human health. Some parasites are easier to detect than others. Diagnosing Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. can be difficult because cysts and oocysts shed in the feces are small, shed intermittently, and require a trained technician to consistently identify them. As a result, infections with these protozoan parasites can be missed. Fecal immunoassays detect antigens in feces and can have increased sensitivity when compared to traditional microscopic techniques, but still do not detect every infection. The current reference standard is an immunoassay known as the direct immunofluorescent assay, but it requires expensive equipment and a long incubation period. As a result, two prototype lateral flow fecal immunoassays, the Cryptosporidium EZ VUE and Giardia EZ VUE, designed by TECHLAB® Inc were evaluated for the ability to detect G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. infections in cats because they are cheap, easy to use, easy to store and easy to interpret. In addition, samples were examined using a 33% zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) centrifugal fecal flotation procedure and the MERIFLUOR® Cryptosporidium/Giardia direct immunofluorescent assay (IFA), which served as the reference test. Other internal parasites found on the centrifugal fecal flotation with zinc sulfate were recorded to determine prevalence. Both EZ VUE fecal immunoassays demonstrated potential in diagnosing infections in cats when compared to centrifugal fecal flotation and the reference. Additionally, a variety of other internal parasites were identified. This included several potentially zoonotic species including Spirometra mansonoides, Ancylostoma sp. and Toxocara cati, which was also the most commonly identified species of parasite. Additionally, it was determined that several factors may contribute to higher prevalence of parasites especially in cats with the status of stray or feral. / M. S. / Internal parasites affect both human and animals. Some parasites do not cause any clinical signs or have a lasting effect, while others can cause damage or contribute to the death of an organism. Certain parasites are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted between humans and animals. Several of these zoonotic parasites are found in companion animals, such as cats. This is especially important because cats are a common household pet. How owned animals are treated, especially pets like dogs and cats, has changed over the past few decades. In many of these households they are considered family members. Additionally, there is a large population of free roaming cats, both stray and feral, that have the potential to interact with humans or their pets. Therefore, it is important to be able to effectively diagnose and determine the prevalence of parasites for both feline and human health. Some parasites are harder to diagnose than others due to varying factors and more diagnostic tests are needed to effectively and efficiently detect them. Two of these parasites that can be challenging to detect are Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. This thesis was aimed at evaluating two prototype diagnostic tests, originally designed for use in humans, for ability to detect these parasites and their potential as diagnostic tests in cats. In addition, this thesis determined the prevalence of other internal parasites found in a large group of cats in Virginia. The obtained results indicated the prototype diagnostic tests had potential. A variety of internal parasites were also present in Virginia cats, some of which were zoonotic, and showed how important routine veterinary care for maintaining feline and human health

Submitted by (edna.saturno@ufrpe.br) on 2016-07-29T16:47:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Lizia Brito da Cunha.pdf: 5020684 bytes, checksum: 4b8626104d83eb8de1f36f4e1110c8ee (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-29T16:47:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Lizia Brito da Cunha.pdf: 5020684 bytes, checksum: 4b8626104d83eb8de1f36f4e1110c8ee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-07-27 / Between the some sanitary problems that affect the wild avian, the parasitic diseases are the most frequent, since causing sub-clinics infections until the death. The endoparasites are very common in captivity kept birds, mainly in cases of high population density. The ectoparasites provoke serious damages that compromise the health of the wild avian being able to take them it the death, as well as indirect damages that intervene with the behavior and the performance of these animals in captivity. Being thus, the present work had for objective to relate the prevalence of endo and ectoparasites in cracides maintained in captivity at Dois Irmãos Zoo Park, Recife-Pernambuco. Dois Irmãos Zoo Park pertaining birds of the Cracidae family had been studied. These animals were born at breeders from different regions of Zona da Mata of Pernambuco State. Samples of excrement and sand had been collected. For the analysis of these samples four excrement collections and one of sand in a period of 60 days had been made. A total of 84 feces samples of 21 species of cracides of 58 animals were collected. The harvested material was submitted to examinations by direct method and spontaneous sedimentation. The results had been positive for Strongyloides sp, Ascaridia sp, Capillaria sp and cysts of Entamoeba coli and eggs of the Strongyloidea family. Two collections with interval of 60 days of plumes to search ectoparasites had been made. A total of 42 samples of plumes had been examined of 21 cracides species. This material was submitted to optic microscope direct examination of identification. The results had evidenced the presence of Analgidae, Glycyphagidae and Pterolichidae mites and Menoponidae lices. / Entre os vários problemas sanitários que afetam as aves silvestres, as enfermidades parasitárias estão entre as mais freqüentes, podendo causar desde infecções sub-clínicas até a morte. Os endoparasitos são muito comuns em aves mantidas em cativeiro, principalmente em casos de alta densidade populacional. Os ectoparasitos provocam danos diretos que comprometem a saúde das aves podendo levá-las à morte, bem como danos indiretos que interferem no comportamento e no desempenho destes animais em cativeiro. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho teve por objetivo relatar a prevalência de endo e ectoparasitos em cracídeos criados em cativeiro no Parque Dois Irmãos, Recife-PE. Foram estudadas aves da família Cracidae pertencentes ao acervo do Parque Dois Irmãos, as quais foram oriundas de criatórios particulares, da Região Metropolitana e Zona da Mata do Estado de Pernambuco. Para isto, foram coletadas amostras de fezes e areia. Para a análise dessas amostras foram feitas quatro coletas de fezes e uma de areia em um período de 60 dias, com um total de 84 amostras fecais de 21 espécies de cracídeos de 58 animais. O material colhido foi submetido a exames coproparasitológicos pelo método direto e de sedimentação espontânea. Os resultados foram positivos para Strongyloides sp, Ascaridia sp, Capillaria sp e cistos de Entamoeba coli, além de ovos pertencentes a grande família Strongyloidea. Para os ectoparasitos, foram feitas duas coletas de penas, com intervalo de 60 dias entre as duas, ao total foram examinadas 42 amostras de penas de 21 espécies de cracídeos. O material colhido foi submetido ao exame de identificação direto, feito através do microscópio óptico. Os resultados constataram a presença de ácaros pertencentes às famílias Analgidae, Glycyphagidae e Pterolichidae, e piolhos da família Menoponidae.

The term aggregation refers to overdispersion and both are used interchangeably in this thesis. In addressing the problem of prevalence of infectious parasite species faced by most rural livestock farmers, we model the distribution of faecal egg counts of 15 parasite species (13 internal parasites and 2 ticks) common in sheep and goats. Aggregation and excess zeroes is addressed through the use of generalised linear models. The abundance of each species was modelled using six different distributions: the Poisson, negative binomial (NB), zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP), zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB), zero-altered Poisson (ZAP) and zero-altered negative binomial (ZANB) and their fit was later compared. Excess zero models (ZIP, ZINB, ZAP and ZANB) were found to be a better fit compared to standard count models (Poisson and negative binomial) in all 15 cases. We further investigated how distributional assumption a↵ects aggregation and zero inflation. Aggregation and zero inflation (measured by the dispersion parameter k and the zero inflation probability) were found to vary greatly with distributional assumption; this in turn changed the fixed-effects structure. Serial autocorrelation between adjacent observations was later taken into account by fitting observation driven time series models to the data. Simultaneously taking into account autocorrelation, overdispersion and zero inflation proved to be successful as zero inflated autoregressive models performed better than zero inflated models in most cases. Apart from contribution to the knowledge of science, predictability of parasite burden will help farmers with effective disease management interventions. Researchers confronted with the task of analysing count data with excess zeroes can use the findings of this illustrative study as a guideline irrespective of their research discipline. Statistical methods from model selection, quantifying of zero inflation through to accounting for serial autocorrelation are described and illustrated. / Statistics / M.Sc. (Statistics)