Abstract
Dogs play a potential role as reservoirs for zoonotic parasites, being especially problematic uncontrolled dog populations such as stray and farm dogs with access to populated areas. In order to investigate the prevalence of canine intestinal parasites in at-risk dog populations, we tested a total of 233 faecal samples shed by stray and dairy farm dogs from northern Spain. Telemann method was used to detect the presence of eggs and (oo)cysts of common dog intestinal parasites and Cryptosporidium was detected by PCR. One hundred and forty eight out of 233 samples (63.5%) were positive for at least one intestinal parasite, being Ancylostomidae (35.6%; 83/233) and Trichuris (35.2%; 82/233) the parasites most frequently identified. Cryptosporidium DNA was not detected in any of the faecal samples analysed. The overall prevalence was significantly higher in stray dogs than in farm dogs (72.5% vs 58.8%). Specifically, stray dogs had a significantly higher prevalence of Ancylostomatidae, Toxocara, Toxascaris and Taenidae. These dog populations are an important source of environmental contamination with intestinal parasite forms, which could be of significance to animal and human health.
Highlights
Dogs are hosts to a large number of gastrointestinal parasites and can shed helminth eggs and protozoan oocysts in their faeces (Balassiano et al, 2009; Traversa et al, 2014)
The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in stray and farm dogs in northern Spain
Gastrointestinal parasite forms found in the faeces of the dogs were identified as nematodes (Ancylostomatidae, Toxocara canis, Trichuris spp. and Toxascaris leonina), cestodes (Taeniidae) and protozoa (Cystoisospora spp. and Giardia)
Summary
Dogs are hosts to a large number of gastrointestinal parasites and can shed helminth eggs and protozoan oocysts in their faeces (Balassiano et al, 2009; Traversa et al, 2014). The potential role of dogs as reservoirs for zoonotic parasites (such as Giardia spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Toxocara spp., hookworms -Ancylostoma and Uncinaria- and Echinococcus granulosus) has been recognized as a significant public health problem worldwide (Benito et al, 2006; Traversa et al, 2014; Felsmann et al, 2017; Mateus et al, 2014; Saldanha-Elias et al, 2019) Uncontrolled dog populations, such as stray and farm dogs, have access to populated areas, representing a potential risk to public and animal health (Martínez-Moreno et al, 2007; Liberato et al, 2018), mainly in rural areas where there is a close contact between dogs and humans or livestock (Pierangeli et al, 2007; Soriano et al, 2010; Cardoso et al, 2014).
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