Comparison of fecal egg counting methods in four livestock species

In the egg-spiking study, the Mini-FLOTAC recovered 70.9% of the eggs, which was significantly higher than either the McMaster (P = 0.002) or Wisconsin (P = 0.002). In the clinical samples from ruminants, Mini-FLOTAC consistently yielded the highest EPG, revealing a significantly higher level of egg recovery (P < 0.0001). For horses and llamas, both McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC yielded significantly higher EPG than Wisconsin (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.024). Mini-FLOTAC was the most accurate method and was the most precise test for both species of ruminants. The Wisconsin method was the most precise for horses and McMaster was more precise for llama samples. We compared the Wisconsin and Mini-FLOTAC methods using a modified technique where both methods were performed using either the Mini-FLOTAC sieve or cheesecloth. The differences in the estimated mean EPG on log scale between the Wisconsin and mini-FLOTAC methods when cheesecloth was used (P < 0.0001) and when cheesecloth was excluded (P < 0.0001) were significant, providing strong evidence that the straining step is an important source of error. The high accuracy and precision demonstrated in this study for the Mini-FLOTAC, suggest that this method can be recommended for routine use in all host species. The benefits of Mini-FLOTAC will be especially relevant when high accuracy is important, such as when performing FECRT.