Dirofilaria striata in a Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi) in Southwest Florida, USA

Abstract

Dirofilaria striata is a filarioid nematode of domestic and wild felids. Differentiating this species from other filarioid nematodes is challenging due to the lack of comprehensive morphologic and molecular data. This short report provides concurrent molecular and morphologic data of microfilariae consistent with D. striata in a free-living Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) from southwest Florida, USA. Also, we present evidence of a potential cross-reaction of D. striata on three different commercially available Dirofilaria immitis antigen tests.