Prevalence and epidemiology of canine and feline heartworm infection in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: Heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis, has long been recognized in Taiwanese dogs but feline heartworm infection has been largely overlooked by veterinarians and pet owners. The main goal of this study was to determine the prevalence and epidemiology of canine and feline heartworm infection in Taiwan. METHODS: Household dogs and cats were selected from 103 veterinary hospitals in 13 cities throughout Taiwan. All animals were at least 1 year old, had received no heartworm prevention for more than 1 year, and had lived in the same city for at least 1 year. Client consent was obtained and an owner questionnaire was completed for each patient. Blood samples were collected from each canine patient and tested at each veterinary hospital for microfilariae and for circulating antigen. A positive result on either test was considered to confirm mature heartworm infection. Blood was collected from each feline patient and examined for microfilariae and a feline heartworm antigen/antibody test was performed. Descriptive statistics were used for heartworm prevalence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationships between heartworm infection and multiple risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 2064 household dogs and 616 household cats from 103 veterinary hospitals throughout Taiwan were included in the study. The overall prevalence of canine heartworm disease was 22.8% (471/2064). In heartworm-positive dogs, 63% were both microfilaria positive and antigen positive, 35% were microfilaria negative and antigen positive, and only 2% were microfilaria positive and antigen negative. In the comparison of different life style groups, outdoor dogs (N = 797) had significantly higher heartworm prevalence rate than indoor dogs (N = 1267; p = 0.000). The heartworm prevalence rate in dogs presented with dyspnea and cough was as high as 51%. The overall prevalence of antibody-positive cats was 6.7% (41/616) and the antigen-positive prevalence rate was 3.1% (19/616). In 41 antibody-positive cats, 6 of them were also antigen-positive. In 19 antigen-positive cats, 13 of them were antibody negative. In antibody-positive and antigen-negative cats, half had no clinical signs. In antigen-positive cats, 21% had no clinical signs and only 38% had classic heartworm clinical signs (dyspnea, cough, or gastrointestinal signs). CONCLUSIONS: Our canine study showed that southern and eastern Taiwan have the highest heartworm prevalence. Dogs not receiving preventive and living outdoors or those that have either cough or dyspnea have a high incidence of heartworm infection. We also confirmed that feline heartworm exposure exists in most cities in Taiwan. The diagnosis of feline heartworm infection will remain challenging for clinicians, however, without a consistent relationship between the presence of heartworm infection and clinical signs and the vagaries of microfilaria and antigen/antibody testing. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-017-2435-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.