[Indirect detection of the infectious agents of selected parasitic diseases in animals by immunologic and molecular biological methods].

In this review the following possibilities of indirect detection of causal agents in selected animal parasitoses are discussed: Detection of serum antibodies by ELISA, IFAT and other test systems in leishmaniasis of dogs, babesiosis of horse, cattle and dog, and in toxoplasmosis of cat and various intermediate host species. In leishmaniasis of dogs the specificity of serodiagnosis can be improved by additional Western-Blot analysis. New approaches are provided by the detection of antigens circulating in serum (i.e. in dirofilariasis of dogs) or excreted in faeces (copro-antigens) (i.e. in intestinal parasitoses). Some of the last mentioned techniques are still under evaluation. A new trend in the diagnosis of parasitoses is the application of DNA technologies for the specific identification of causal agents. Some examples are discussed.