IBIMA Publishing International Journal of Veterinary Medicine: Research & Reports http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/IJVMR/ijvmr.html Vol. 2015 (2015), Article ID 429690, 8 pages DOI: 10.5171/2015.429690 _____________ Cite this Article as: Camille-marie Coomansingh, Michael Yabsley, Nannette Wagner, Rhonda Pinckney, Muhammad I. Bhaiyat, Alfred Chikweto, Calum Macpherson and Paul J. Fields (2015), " Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Dirofilaria Immitis in Dogs from Grenada, West Indies", International Journal of Veterinary Medicine: Research & Reports, Vol. 2015 (2015), Article ID 429690, DOI: 10.5171/2015.429690 Research Article Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Dirofilaria Immitis in Dogs from Grenada, West Indies Camille-marie Coomansingh 1 , Michael Yabsley 2 , Nannette Wagner 3 , Rhonda Pinckney 4 , Muhammad I. Bhaiyat 5 , Alfred Chikweto 6 , Calum Macpherson 7 and Paul J. Fields 8 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George’s University, True Blue, Grenada, West Indies 8 Windward Islands Research and Educational Foundation, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies Correspondence should be addressed to: Camille-marie Coomansingh; ccoomansingh@sgu.edu Received date: 3 August 2014; Accepted date: 23 October 2014; Published date: 24 July 2015 Academic Editor: Alparslan Yildirim Copyright © 2015. Camille-marie Coomansingh, Michael Yabsley, Nannette Wagner, Rhonda Pinckney, Muhammad I. Bhaiyat, Alfred Chikweto, Calum Macpherson and Paul J. Fields. Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 Introduction Dirofilaria immitis is the cause of heartworm disease in many domestic animal species but primarily in dogs. The parasite is restricted geographically mainly to regions with warm climatic conditions including Curacao, Trinidad, Brazil and Malaysia as 130 growing degree days (GDD) is required for L3 development which is demonstrated to take 8-10 days at 28-30oC, 11-12 days at 24oC, 16-20 days at 22oC and arrested development below 14oC (Cancrini and Gabrielli, 2007; Genchi et al., 2009). Abstract A comparison of several individual studies was made in order to determine the statistical significance for the prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs (n=1245) in Grenada, using necropsy and different ELISA test kits. The overall prevalence was estimated to be 17% in a study of live dogs, 12% in a study of necropsied dogs, and 14% when combining the studies using meta-analysis. There was no evidence of infection in dogs less than 6 months of age and no statistical difference (P>0.50) between male and female dogs. The prevalence reported is the cause for concern particularly since Dirofilaria immitis in dogs were found in all parishes in Grenada, favorable climatic conditions exist for vector-borne transmission, there is only sporadic use of preventatives, and there is an almost complete lack of public knowledge of the zoonotic potential of this filarial parasite in Grenada. Keywords: Dirofilaria immitis, Meta-analysis, Prevalence, Grenada.