Improved veterinary diagnostics for tapeworms

Dogs can be infected with several species of tapeworms, but show no obvious symptoms. Tapeworms are generally diagnosed by detection of microscopic eggs produced by the parasites that are passed in the dog’s stool. However, this technique is not ideal, as eggs are not always passed in stool, different tapeworms produce visually similar eggs, and this requires an experienced diagnostician. Therefore, false negatives are common. There is increasing interest in techniques to directly detect DNA of parasites in stool of dogs. Aquila Diagnostics Systems Inc. has developed a point of care tapeworm test for use in veterinary clinics that would enable rapid detection of DNA of tapeworms in dog stool samples (the AccutasVET Tapeworm DNA kit). TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Emily Jenkins

Student:

Temitope Kolapo

Partner:

Aquila Diagnostics Systems Inc

Discipline:

Animal science

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Program: