{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T08:51:32Z","timestamp":1785919892576,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":80,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,2]],"date-time":"2026-08-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785628800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01znas443","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Belgrade","award":["451-03-34\/2026-03\/200143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-34\/2026-03\/200143"]}]},{"award":["451-03-34\/2026-03\/200143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-34\/2026-03\/200143"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02qsmb048","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Scientific Veterinary Institute Novi Sad","award":["451-03-33\/2026-03\/200031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-33\/2026-03\/200031"]}]},{"award":["451-03-33\/2026-03\/200031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-33\/2026-03\/200031"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04pschh68","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005289","name":"Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research Activity of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["003878144 2025 09418 003 000 001 04 004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["003878144 2025 09418 003 000 001 04 004"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005289","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["003878144 2025 09418 003 000 001 04 004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["003878144 2025 09418 003 000 001 04 004"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0348qv851","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Canine filariosis is an emerging vector-borne parasitic disease of veterinary and public health importance, caused primarily by D. immitis and D. repens. The present study investigated the prevalence, risk factors, diagnostic performance of different methods, and molecular characteristics of filarial infections in dogs from the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Blood samples from 418 dogs collected between 2020 and 2024 were examined using a modified Knott test, antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and polymerase chain reaction-based methods. Overall, 21.3% of dogs were positive for at least one filarial species. D. repens was the most prevalent species (13.40%), followed by D. immitis (10.8%) and A. reconditum (1.4%). Coinfections with D. immitis and D. repens were detected in 3.35% of dogs, while triple infections occurred in 0.5%. Several individual and environmental factors were associated with an increased risk of infection, including poor body condition, mixed-breed status, inadequate parasite control, and specific movement histories. PCR showed the highest diagnostic performance for all detected species, outperforming both microscopy and antigen testing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed genetic diversity among the detected isolates and demonstrated their relationship to strains previously reported from other European countries. These findings confirm the endemic presence of canine filarial infections in the Republic of Srpska and emphasize the importance of molecular diagnostics, surveillance programs, and preventive measures for effective disease control.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16152361","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T06:17:40Z","timestamp":1785737860000},"page":"2361","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Epidemiological and Molecular Investigation of Dirofilaria repens, Dirofilaria immitis, and Acanthocheilonema reconditum in Dogs in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2254-225X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Darko","family":"Despotovic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"PI Veterinary Institute of the Republic of Srpska \u201cDr Vaso Butozan\u201d, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1617-2862","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nemanja M.","family":"Jovanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bul. Oslobodjenja 18, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5092-7595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tamas","family":"Petrovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Veterinary Institute \u201cNovi Sad\u201d, Rumenacki put 20, 21113 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5382-4391","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivona","family":"Subic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"PI Veterinary Institute of the Republic of Srpska \u201cDr Vaso Butozan\u201d, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2287-7818","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Radalj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bul. Oslobodjenja 18, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oliver","family":"Stevanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"PI Veterinary Institute of the Republic of Srpska \u201cDr Vaso Butozan\u201d, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4010-7964","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katarina","family":"Nenadovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bul. Oslobodjenja 18, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2813-6466","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tamara","family":"Ilic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bul. Oslobodjenja 18, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00012-12","article-title":"Human and animal dirofilariasis: The emergence of a zoonotic mosaic","volume":"25","author":"Mellado","year":"2012","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. 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