High prevalence of Giardia spp. in cats without diarrhea and agreement between diagnostic techniques in the municipality of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

In this study, we conducted an epidemiological investigation and analyzed the agreement between the Faust technique and the immunochromatographic assay in the diagnosis of Giardia spp. in 272 cats in the municipality of Londrina, Paraná state, Brazil. We identified an overall prevalence of 74.63% (203/272 [95% CI: 69.14–79.44%]) of Giardia spp. in cats, being significantly higher in adult and non-domiciled animals, which presented, respectively, 5.3 and 8.6 times more chances of infection when compared to kittens and domiciled animals. However, all the animals investigated that tested positive did not present with diarrhea. Regarding diagnostic methods, using coproparasitological examination, Giardia spp. cysts were observed in the feces of 193 cats, and through the immunochromatographic assay, coproantigens of this protozoan were detected in 203 samples, demonstrating almost perfect agreement ( Kappa Cohen: 0.907). Thus, according to the authors’ knowledge, this is the highest prevalence of Giardia spp. ever identified in cats in Brazil, and with regard to diagnostic methods, we observed a high concordance between the coproparasitological examination and the immunochromatographic assay in the detection of the aforementioned protozoan.