July 31, 2014
Categories: Research, Shelter Medicine

Can shelters rely on in-facility tests designed to detect heartworm infections and the presence of antibodies to tick diseases?

Bigstock-Black-Legged-Deer-Tick-As-Foun-40940638Can shelters rely on in-facility tests designed to detect heartworm infections and the presence of antibodies to tick diseases?

In the July 14, 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, researchers published the results of a study looking at the performance of an in-clinic ELISA test for detection of heartworm antigen and antibodies against five tick-borne pathogens, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys, Borrelia burgdorferi (the organism that causes Lyme disease), Ehrlichia canis, and Ehrlichia ewingii.

After examining blood, serum, or plasma samples from 1,601 dogs, they evaluated the sensitivity of the test (how often it correctly identified samples that were truly positive for the antigen or antibody) and its specificity (how often it correctly identified samples that were truly negative for the antigen or antibody). They found:

  • The sensitivity for A phagocytophilum was 93.2 percent, and specificity was 99.2 percent.
  • The sensitivity for A platys was 89.2 percent, and specificity was 99.2 percent.
  • The sensitivity for B burgdorferi was 96.7 percent, and specificity was 98.8 percent.
  • The sensitivity for E canis was 97.8 percent, and specificity was 92.3 percent.
  • The sensitivity for E ewingii was 96.5 percent, and specificity was 93.9 percent.
  • The sensitivity for detection of D immitis (which is the antigen for heartworm) was 98.9 percent, and its specificity, 99.3 percent. 

Stillman BA1, Monn M, Liu J, Thatcher B, Foster P, Andrews B, Little S, Eberts M, Breitschwerdt EB, Beall MJ, Chandrashekar R.; Performance of a commercially available in-clinic ELISA for detection of antibodies against Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys, Borrelia burgdorferi, Ehrlichia canis, and Ehrlichia ewingii and Dirofilaria immitis antigen in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2014 Jul 1;245(1):80-6. doi: 10.2460/javma.245.1.80.