Parafilaroides decorus

Williams, Kalani M., Fessler, M. K., Bloomfield, R. A., Sandke, William D., Malekshahi, Clara R., Keroack, Caroline D., Duignan, Pádraig J., Torquato, Samantha D. & Williams, Steven A., 2020, A novel quantitative real-time PCR diagnostic assay for fecal and nasal swab detection of an otariid lungworm, Parafilaroides decorus, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 12, pp. 85-92 : 91

4.4. Detection of P. decorus in paired fecal and sputum samples

P. decorus detection was achieved by the Pd65 qPCR assay in both fecal and sputum samples from all hosts tested with known P. decorus infections. Furthermore, both feces and sputum samples were equally sensitive for detection of P. decorus DNA ( Table 5). This suggests that either or both of these sample types could be used to diagnose P. decorus infection using this assay. However, feces and sputum were not necessarily collected on the same day, and therefore may have been collected during different points in the course of the infection, or even during different points in treatment of the infection. Thus, the true relationship between Pd65 qPCR detection in feces and sputum as indicators of P. decorus infection warrants further investigation. A followup study to examine this relationship using paired fecal and sputum samples collected at the same time points is necessary.