Capillaria aerophila , a trichuroid nematode causing pulmonary infections in wild and domestic carnivores, is occasionally and potentially poorly recognized in infections of humans due to clinicopathological mimicry and a lack of accurate, robust laboratory diagnostics. The present work evaluated the efficiency of a DNA-based assay amplifying a partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ( cox 1) gene of C. aerophila in the diagnosis of lung capillariosis. Fecal samples from 34 dogs and 10 cats positive at parasitological examination for C. aerophila and other endoparasites (i.e., other lungworms, whipworms, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and/or coccidia) and from 44 animals negative for C. aerophila but positive for other endoparasites were molecularly examined. Of the 44 samples positive for C. aerophila at copromicroscopy, 43 scored positive (i.e., 33/34 dogs and 10/10 cats) in seminested PCR, resulting in a sensitivity of 97 to 100%. Samples that were copromicroscopy negative for C. aerophila although positive for other endoparasites never produced a PCR product or nonspecific amplicons. The specific PCR amplification of C. aerophila (i.e., specificity of 100%) was confirmed by a nucleotide sequence analysis of the cox 1 amplicons. The potential implications of the molecular diagnosis of lung capillariosis are discussed.

A total of 1180 faecal samples (528 from rabbits, 531 from chinchillas and 121 from guinea pigs) collected during 2006–2012 by veterinarians in Germany and in other European countries were submitted to a diagnostic laboratory for Giardia testing by means of coproantigen ELISA. Of these samples, 40 rabbits (7.6 per cent), 326 chinchillas (61.4 per cent) and five guinea pigs (4.1 per cent) were found to be positive. To gain insights into the genetic identity of Giardia in small mammals, ELISA‐positive samples from 23 chinchillas, five ferrets, a rabbit, and a Desmarest's hutia were investigated by PCR and sequencing of fragments of the small subunit ribosomal DNA ( ssu ), the triose phosphate isomerase ( tpi ) and the β‐giardin ( bg ) genes. At the ssu locus, assemblage B was identified in 28 of 30 isolates, whereas assemblage A and D were each detected in one sample. The majority of isolates from chinchillas and those from ferrets had Giardia duodenalis sequences identical to sub‐assemblages AI or BIV, based on either a single locus ( tpi or bg ) or multiple loci ( tpi and bg ). As sub‐assemblages AI or BIV are associated with human infection, these results indicate that small mammals can act as reservoirs of cysts potentially infectious to humans.