What is the course of treatment for Lung worms in dogs?

[Petvet]

Today I have noticed the lung worm in one of the deceased pup of a ROT. I suspect the rest of the puppies are having the same problem. How to proceed in this condition? Throw light on diagnosis also!

[thedolittlevet]

Do you know which species of lungworm it is as there can be different types in different parts of the world e.g. Capillaria, Filaroides? In UK, the common type is Angistrongylus vasorum.

Diagnosis can sometimes be by faecal flotation for larvae. Non specific diagnosis includes radiography (various pulmonary patterns such as pulmonary infiltrates, bronho-alveolar patterns etc), bloods (may show low proteins, eosinophilia, anaemia and prolonged ACT), endoscopy (for bronchial washings for ova and eosinophils).

As a lot of the tests are non-specific, it is probably easier to just treat e.g. with 5 days albendazole (and repeat in 2 weeks), fenbendazole (for 14 days) or ivermectin injections (if not collies).

Thedolittlevet
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[Administrator]

For those wondering- "what the Heck is Lungworm anyway"?-


actually Lungworm while having been around for a while, is having a bit of an epidemic in the UK currently it appears. :(

Its pretty common worldwide- a 2003-2007 study of 4151 dogs from Denmark, and 958 dogs from Germany (with clinical signs) showed in total, 3.6% of Danish and German dogs shed lungworm larvae.
Here is the link (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD7-4TN82MS-C&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=21856686d028e3911cc617034b24eeb3) for more accurate details.

As mentioned in many UK related pet blogs, eg this one (http://whatwouldadogdo.blogspot.com/2009/02/lungworm-parasite-strikes-uk.html), it was not that long ago that lungworm in dogs was considered to be an exotic disease, and not at all the sort of thing that we needed to worry about in the UK...

The life cycle is as follows, of this parasite-
Adult worms as in the picture below live in arteries in the lungs of dogs and foxes.
Eggs are made there by females, these are eventually coughed up, and found in the faeces of the dogs or foxes.
These hatch into larvae which actually are taken in by slugs and snails where they develop further.
Dogs and foxes get infected by eating infected snails and slugs.

A recent paper published by Morgan and colleagues in Veterinary Parasitology Magazine in 2008, confirmed that nearly 10% of wild foxes in the UK are now infected.