Comparison of traditional copromicroscopy with image analysis devices for detection of gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep.

Autor: McEvoy A; Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co., Galway, Ireland; Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Centre for One Health and Ryan Institute, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland., O'Boyle P; Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co., Galway, Ireland., Ellis S; Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co., Galway, Ireland; Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Centre for One Health and Ryan Institute, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland., Dalton JP; Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Centre for One Health and Ryan Institute, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland., Parkinson M; 62 The Paddocks, Westbury, Corbally, Limerick V94 V32X, Ireland., Keane OM; Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath, Ireland. Electronic address: orla.keane@teagasc.ie., Machín C; Animal & Bioscience Department, Teagasc Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath, Ireland; Instituto Universitario Sanidad Animal y Seguridad Alimentaria, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Veterinary parasitology [Vet Parasitol] 2024 Jul; Vol. 329, pp. 110216. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 27.
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2024.110216
Abstrakt: Sustainable parasite control practices are necessary to combat the negative effects of gastrointestinal nematodes on animal health and production while reducing the selection pressure for anthelmintic resistance. Parasite diagnostic tests can inform treatment decisions, the timing and effectiveness of treatment and enable livestock breeding programmes. In recent years new diagnostic methods have been developed, some incorporating machine learning (ML), to facilitate the detection and enumeration of parasite eggs. It is important to understand the technical characteristics and performance of such new methods compared to long standing and commonly utilised methods before they are widely implemented. The aim of the present study was to trial three new diagnostic tools relying on image analysis (FECPAK G2 , Micron and OvaCyte) and to compare them to traditional manual devices (McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC). Faecal samples were obtained from 41 lambs naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes. Samples were mixed and separated into 2 aliquots for examination by each of the 5 methods: McMaster, Mini-FLOTAC, FECPAK G2 , Micron and OvaCyte. The techniques were performed according to their respective standard protocols and results were collected by trained staff (McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC) or by the device (FECPAK G2 , Micron and OvaCyte). Regarding strongyle worm egg count, McMaster values varied from 0 to 9,000 eggs per gram (EPG). When comparing replicate aliquots, both the Mini-FLOTAC and Micron methods displayed similar repeatability to McMaster. However, we found FECPAK G2 and OvaCyte significantly less precise than McMaster. When comparing parasite egg enumeration, significant positive linear correlations were established between McMaster and all other methods. No difference was observed in EPG between McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC or FECPAK G2 ; however, Micron and OvaCyte returned significantly higher and lower EPG, respectively, compared to McMaster. The number of eggs ascribed to other parasite species was not sufficient for performing a robust statistical comparison between all methods. However, it was noted that FECPAK G2 generally did not detect Strongyloides papillosus eggs, despite these being detected by other methods. In addition, Moniezia spp and Trichuris spp eggs were detected by OvaCyte and Mini-FLOTAC, respectively, but not by other methods. The observed variation between traditional and new methods for parasite diagnostics highlights the need for continued training and enhancing of ML models used and the importance of developing clear guidelines for validation of newly developed methods.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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