Abstract
Abstract Sixteen intestinal helminth species were recovered from 271 necropsied stray dogs during a survey undertaken in Raoued and Soukra, two northeastern rural regions of Tunisia. Recorded parasites included trematodes (Brachylaemus sp., Phagicola italica, Heterophyes heterophyes), cestodes (Echinococcus granulosus, Dipylidium caninum, Diplopylidium noelleri, Mesocestoides lineatus, Mesocestoides litteratus, Taenia hydatigena, Taenia pisiformis, Taenia multiceps), nematodes (Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Trichuris vulpis) and one acanthocephalan Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus. This is the first record of Brachylaemus sp., P. italica, H. heterophyes, D. noelleri and M. hirudinaceus in dogs from Tunisia. Echinococcus granulosus was found in 5·16% of dogs with a higher intensity of infection recorded in younger animals (303 worms/infected dog). Molecular analysis confirmed E. granulosus sensu stricto as the cause of canine echinococcosis. This epidemiological study investigating the status of intestinal helminths of dogs recorded a prevalence of 98·89% and a mean intensity of 87·62 worms per infected dog and confirmed the infection of 95·14% of dogs with helminths of potential zoonotic concern. Results of this study emphasize the need to interrupt parasite transmission using preventive approaches in zoonoses control programmes mainly against cystic echinococcosis, as well as reducing transmission to other animals by regular dog dosing treatments and proper management of dog populations.
Highlights
Stray dogs represent a significant reservoir for numerous intestinal helminth species, many of which are of zoonotic concern
The alignment of the generated nucleotide sequences against those reported by Bowles et al (1992), showed that the nine Tunisian dogs were infected with E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.)
The majority of helminth species described in this study (11/16, 68·8%) were previously recorded in stray dogs, golden jackals and red foxes from the northwest and centre west of Tunisia (Lahmar et al 2001, 2008, 2009)
Summary
Stray dogs represent a significant reservoir for numerous intestinal helminth species, many of which are of zoonotic concern. To minimize human exposure to zoonotic parasites, it is generally recommended to humanely manage and control populations of roaming dogs (FAO, 2014). Stray dogs in Tunisia are estimated to constitute 80% of the 509 000 rural dog populations (DGSV, 2011) and have access to condemned organs and abandoned livestock carcasses (Deplazes et al 2017). Several surveys on dog intestinal helminths have previously been carried out for the central west, northwestern and southern regions of Tunisia (Lahmar et al 2001, 2008, 2009; Oudni-M’rad et al 2017). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the epidemiological parameters of intestinal helminths in stray dogs from two previously unexamined rural areas, Raoued and Soukra in northeastern Tunisia, with special reference to Echinococcus granulosus and other zoonotic helminths
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