Baermann Examination
This technique is used to recover live nematode larvae from fresh (or sometimes frozen) faeces or, on occasion, organs, tissues or vegetation.
Direct Skin Scraping With Digestion
This technique is used to recover small ectoparasites, particularly the various species of tiny mites associated with mange.
Ecoparasite Collection
The larger ectoparasites (e.g. lice, fleas, ticks and fly maggots) are best recovered by very careful visual examination of the skin and hair coat.
Egg/Oocyst Comparison - Canine Flotation
The eggs and oocysts in the chart below are those that are somewhat commonly found in dog fecal flotations. The measurement provided below the eggs/oocysts is the published range of the length or diameter of the egg or oocyst.
Egg/Oocyst comparison - Equine Flotation
The eggs and oocysts in the chart below are those that are somewhat commonly found in horse fecal flotations. The measurement provided below the eggs/oocysts is the published range of the length or diameter of the egg or oocyst.
Egg/Oocyst comparison - Feline Flotation
The eggs and oocysts in the chart below are those that are somewhat commonly found in cat fecal flotations. The measurement provided below the eggs/oocysts is the published range of the length or diameter of the egg or oocyst.
Egg/Oocyst comparison - Porcine Flotation
The eggs and oocysts in the chart are those that are somewhat commonly found in pig fecal flotations. The measurement provided below is the published range of the length or diameter of the egg or oocyst.
Egg/Oocyst comparison - Ruminant Flotation
The eggs and oocysts in the chart below are those that are somewhat commonly found in ruminant fecal flotations. The measurement provided below the eggs/oocysts is the published range of the length or diameter of the egg or oocyst.
Fecal Direct Smear
This is usually used to detect and identify protozoan trophozoites, cysts and oocysts in fresh or appropriately fixed feces.
Fecal Egg Count Reduction Testing
Due to the increase in anthelmentic resistance in equine helminths the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) guidelines recommend the use of Fecal Egg Count Reduction Testing.
Fecal Sedimentation
This technique is used to recover eggs of trematodes, which do not float in standard flotation techniques.
Giardia Test: IDEXX SNAP
This test is applied to the feces to detect antigen produced by Giardia spp.
Heartworm Antigen Test
A variety of commercial test kits are available for the serological diagnosis of Dirofilaria immitis.
Modified Knotts Test
The Modified Knotts Test is used to detect and identify microfilariae of filarid nematodes in blood.
Qualitative Faecal Centrifugation-Flotation
This technique is usually applied to faeces, or sometimes intestinal contents, to recover eggs of helminth parasites and cysts and oocysts of intestinal protozoa.
Quantitative Faecal Flotation - McMaster Egg Counting Technique
This technique is usually applied to faeces, or sometimes intestinal contents, to recover and count eggs of helminth parasites and cysts and oocysts of intestinal protozoa.
Quantitative Modified Wisconsin Technique: In-Clinic Procedure
This technique is usually applied to faeces, or sometimes intestinal contents, to recover and count eggs of helminth parasites and cysts and oocysts of intestinal protozoa.
Quantitative Wisconsin Technique: WCVM Laboratory Procedure
This technique is usually applied to faeces, or sometimes intestinal contents, to recover and count eggs of helminth parasites and cysts and oocysts of intestinal protozoa.
Skin Scraping
This technique is used to recover small ectoparasites, particularly the various species of tiny mites associated with mange.
Specialized Diagnostics: Blood Film Examination
Several parasitic protozoa (e.g. Trypanosoma and Babesia), as well as the first-stage larvae (microfilariae) of some tissue-dwelling nematodes (e.g. D. immitis), can be detected in stained films of peripheral blood.
Specialized Diagnostics: Coproantigen Detection
This approach depends on the detection of parasite antigen in faeces, using a variety of immunological techniques.
Specialized Diagnostics: Fecal Culture
Eggs of several parasitic nematodes, particularly those of the gastro-intestinal tract of herbivores, cannot be identified to genus.
Specialized Diagnostics: Fluorescent Antibody Detection of Parasites in Faeces
Commercial test kits are available for the detection of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts using a specific fluorescent-labeled antibody that attaches to the antigen on the cyst or oocyst wall.
Specialized Diagnostics: Immunohistochemistry
This technique depends on the detection of parasite antigens, usually in histological sections of host tissue, using specific antibodies.
Specialized Diagnostics: Medical Imaging
Techniques such as radiography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have application as research tools in the investigation of several tissue-dwelling parasites, especially helminths.
Specialized Diagnostics: Parasite Detection in Histological Sections
Many tissue-dwelling helminths, arthropods and protozoa may be detected in histological sections made from samples collected at post-mortem (or occasionally by biopsy).
Specialized Diagnostics: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Nucleic Acid Sequencing
This technique, which depends on the detection of parasite nucleic acid, can be applied to a variety of samples, including fresh and fixed tissues, blood, faeces, and the parasites themselves.
Specialized Diagnostics: Serology
In veterinary parasitology there are serological tests for a variety of helminth, arthropod and protozoan parasites.
Specialized Diagnostics: Tissue/Organ Digestion
This technique is used to detect adult and larval helminths, and sometimes arthropods, in host tissues and organs.
Specialized Diagnostics: Total Worm Count
This is used, most often on ruminants, to quantify and identify the helminth parasite burden in the lumen, and sometimes the mucosa (larval stages of nematodes), in part or all of the gastro-intestinal tract.