10-year parasitological examination results (2003 to 2012) of faecal samples from horses, ruminants, pigs, dogs, cats, rabbits and hedgehogs.

Abstract

The results of coproscopical examinations in domestic animals and hedgehogs carried out as routine diagnostics in the years 2003 to 2012 at the Institute for Parasitology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, are presented. Of 3475 horse faecal samples, 30.1% contained stages of strongyles and 1.3% eggs of Strongyloides westeri and Parascaris equorum, respectively. The most frequently observed parasite stages in 1416 cattle faecal samples were Eimeria oocysts (21.3%) and strongyle eggs or larvae (15.9%). Dictyocaulus viviparus larvae and Fasciola hepatica eggs were identified in 0.9 and 1.3% of samples. Of 574 bovine faecal samples analysed by carbol-fuchsin staining, 39.9% were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts. Stages of strongyles were found in 52.4% of sheep (n=374) and 44.9% of goat faeces (n=98) and Eimeria oocysts in 41.4 and 32.7% of their faeces, respectively. Of 1848 pig faecal samples, 3.0% contained stages of strongyles, 1.6% eggs of Ascaris suum and 3.3% coccidian (Eimeria or Cystoisospora spp.) oocysts. The most frequently detected helminth eggs in faecal samples of dogs (n=2731) and cats (n=903) were Toxocara spp. (2.8 and 3.9%, respectively). Cystoisospora oocysts were identified in 5.6% of dog and 2.4% of cat faeces. Furthermore, 0.7% of the cat samples were positive for small Toxoplasma gondii-like oocysts. The faecal samples of rabbits (n=434) contained eggs of Passalurus ambiguus (3.0%), strongyles (1.8%) and Trichuris leporis (0.2%) as well as Eimeria oocysts (21.2%). The most abundant nematodes in the samples of hedgehogs (n=205) were Capillaria spp. (39.5%) and Crenosoma striatum (26.8%); coccidian oocysts were found in 14.2% of the samples.