Comparison of three immunodiagnostic tests for experimental Heterophyes heterophyes infection in dogs

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of three in-house diagnostic tests, i.e. counter current immunoelectrophoresis (CCIE), intradermal (ID) and indirect fluorescent immunoassay (IFI), for the diagnosis of Heterophyes infection. One hundred and twenty puppies were randomly divided into eight groups (n=15/group). Heterophyes heterophyes infections were established in these puppies by administering a dose of 50 H. heterophyes encysted metacercariae/puppy by gavage. Forty puppies of similar age and sex were divided into eight groups, of five puppies each and were used as negative controls. Sera pooled from separate infected and uninfected groups were tested against H. heterophyes antigens, weekly for 8 weeks post-infection (PI). The ID assay detected infected puppies sooner than any of the serological tests. Sero-conversion was first detected 2 weeks PI by ID assay and 1 week later by CCIE and IFI assays. ID test performed well till the end of the experiment (sensitivity and specificity: 100% and 90%, respectively). Both IFI and CCIE assays had a sensitivity of 40% and 20%, respectively for early detection of antibody, which was less sensitive than ID but both assays were more specific (100%) than the ID assay. The lowest agreement was between ID and IFI tests (40.3%), whilst the highest was observed between CCIE and IFI tests (67.2%). Of the three evaluated methods, the ID test could be recommended for scientific and laboratory diagnosis of heterophyosis in naturally infected animals. However, since none of the investigated method are optimal (i.e, offers 100% specificity and sensitivity), the choice of test employed must depend on the aim of the study.