Efficacy of Broadline® spot-on against Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior lungworms in naturally infected cats from Italy

The increasing reports of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection and the new information onTroglostrongylus brevior have spurred the interest of the scientific community towards theresearch of pharmaceutical compounds effective against both pathogens. A novel topi-cal combination of fipronil, (S)-methoprene, eprinomectin and praziquantel (Broadline®,Merial) has been released for the treatment of a variety of feline parasitic infections. Thepresent study reports the efficacy of this spot-on in treating cats naturally infected by felinelungworms. Client owned cats (n = 191) were enrolled from three geographical areas of Italyand faecal samples were examined by floatation and Baermann techniques. Twenty-threeindividuals were positive for L1 of A. abstrusus (n = 18) or T. brevior (n = 3) or for both species(n = 2) and they were topically treated with Broadline®. Seventeen of them were also con-comitantly infected by other parasites. Four weeks after treatment, faecal samples werecollected and examined to assess the efficacy of a single administration of the product.Based on lungworm larvae counts, the efficacy of the treatment was 90.5% or 100% forA. abstrusus or T. brevior, respectively. Cats released significantly lower amounts of lung-worm larvae after treatment compared to pre-treatment (p < 0.0001). All but three catswere negative for other nematodes after treatment and all cats recovered from respiratorysigns. Results of this study indicate that a single administration of the topical combina-tion fipronil, (S)-methoprene, eprinomectin and praziquantel is effective and safe for thetreatment of A. abstrusus and/or T. brevior infections in cats living under field conditions.