Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University Veterinary Research Forum 2008-8140 11 2 2020 06 15 A cross sectional study on Dirofilaria immitis and Acanthocheilonema reconditum in sheepdogs in a western region in Iran 185 190 35150 10.30466/vrf.2018.78930.2046 EN Mandana Hoseini Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Fateme Jalousian Department of parasitology, faculty of veterinary medicine, university of Tehran Seyed Hosein Hoseini Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-7709-6539 Abbas Gerami Sadeghian Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2018 02 19 Iran is one of the endemic areas of Dirofilariasis, and also one of the most important zoonotic infections. <em>Dirofilaria immitis</em> causes a severe and fatal disease called heartworm disease in dog. It also produces pulmonary nodules in humans. The worm is to be investigated as a potential infection of humans and animals in various provinces in Iran. In this research, the samples were<em> studied</em> with modified Knott and molecular methods. The results of the modified Knott method indicated that 14.00% of sheepdogs were infected with filarial microfiler. The microfilers were characterized with basic morphological features, the length of the infective larva and tail ending. There was an estimated prevalence of 4.45% for <em>Dirofilaria immitis </em>and 9.55% for <em>Acanthocheilonema </em><em>reconditum </em>microfiler. To verify the differential diagnosis, molecular method was performed using PCR with <em>Dirofilaria </em>specific primers for amplification of ITS2 locus. Gene locus sequencing results of <em>D. immitis</em> and sequence alignment recorded in GeneBank showed 97.00% similarity, and relatively 98.00% similarity was observed in <em>A.reconditum.</em> The results of the molecular method confirmed the result of modified Knott method. Low infection with <em>D. immitis</em> was observed the region, probably due to the fact that the annual temperature and precipitation in this area were not suitable for the proliferation of the vector mosquitoes. In general, there was less infection in the region compared to regions with relatively similar climatic conditions. Hence, the results suggested that alternative diagnostic tests are required to determine the occult infections. https://vrf.iranjournals.ir/article_35150_123c12d84c20dd2666df87c9522555d0.pdf