Animal Assisted Interventions (AAIs) programmes have been considered useful in different settings, such as hospital, therapeutic, educational and assisted living environments. In these contexts, all animals, and particularly dogs, should be subjected to appropriate health controls to prevent a potential risk of transmission of zoonotic agents. Domestic dogs are reservoirs of many zoonotic pathogens including several gastrointestinal parasites (protozoa and helminths). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of the protozoan Giardia duodenalis and zoonotic gastrointestinal nematodes (geohelminths) in dogs hosted in a dog educational centre in the city of Naples (southern Italy) where the animals were trained to AAI. Between April and June 2016, 74 dog faecal samples were analysed using the FLOTAC dual technique to detect G. duodenalis cysts and other parasitic elements. Out of the 74 faecal samples examined, 18 (24.3%; 95% CI ¼ 15.4-35.9) were positive for parasitic elements. Specifically, 8 were positive for G. duodenalis (44.4%; 95% CI ¼ 22.4-68.7). In addition, some co-infections were also found: one sample (5.6%; 95% CI ¼ 0.3-29.4) resulted positive to both Toxocara canis and Trichuris vulpis and two samples (11.1%; 95% CI ¼ 1.9-36.1) were positive to both G. duodenalis and Ancylostomidae. Given that children, young adults and immunocompromised individuals are among the main users of the AAIs, specific guidelines targeting G. duodenalis and other gastrointestinal zoonotic parasites should be formulated in order to develop effective control and prevention strategies and reduce the zoonotic risk favoured by the human-dog interaction.
BackgroundThe cardiopulmonary nematodes Dirofilaria immitis and Angiostrongylus vasorum are increasingly reported in dogs and are responsible for two diseases with overlapping endemic areas, especially in Europe: dirofilariosis and angiostrongylosis. The reasons for their apparent emergence are unknown, but several factors (e.g. increased disease awareness, better diagnostic tools, climatic changes, seasonal population dynamics and movements of animals) may play a role in the recent rise in reports of infection in the various countries of Europe. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of D. immitis (by DiroCHECK® ELISA) and the fecal presence of first stage larvae (L1) of A. vasorum (by FLOTAC) in dogs from 68 kennels of the Campania region (southern Italy). The fecal samples were collected from pooled samples using the box as epidemiological unit. To the authors’s knowledge, this is the first cross-sectional survey conducted at regional-scale in Italy and in Europe on the contemporaneous detection of D. immitis antigens and A. vasorum L1 in kennels.ResultsAntigens of D. immitis were detected in 24/537 (4.4 %; 95 % Confidence Interval = 3.0–6.7) dogs in 6 out of the 68 kennels (8.8 %; 95 % CI = 3.6–18.9). The 24 positive samples for D. immitis antigen were tested also with AngioDetect® and only 1 sample was seropositive for A. vasorum with a prevalence of 4.2 %. A. vasorum L1 were detected in dogs from 9 out of the 68 kennels (13.2 %; 95 % CI = 21.8–44.9). Pooled fecal samples from 25 boxes out of the 1360 analyzed resulted positive to A. vasorum L1 (1.8 %; 95 % CI = 1.2–2.7).ConclusionsThe present study indicates that cardiopulmonary nematodes are present in Campania region in symptomatic dogs as well as in asymptomatic ones. Therefore, regular parasitological surveillance, appropriate treatment strategies and high quality standard of hygiene are required to guarantee the health and welfare of kennel dogs.
We carried out the first survey of Hymenolepis spp. infection in pet rodents in Italy. Fresh fecal samples were collected from 172 pet rodents as follows: guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus; n = 60), squirrels (Callosciurus finlaysonii, Callosciurus prevosti, Tamias striatus, Tamias sibiricus, Sciurus calorinensis; n = 52), hamsters (Phodopus campbelli, Mesocricetus auratus; n = 30), chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera; n = 13), rats (Rattus norvegicus; n = 10), and mice (Mus minutoides; n = 7). These animals were housed either in pet shops or in private houses. All fecal samples were processed using the FLOTAC pellet technique to assess the number of eggs per gram (EPG) of feces. Eggs of Hymenolepis nana were found in 24 out of 172 (13.9 %; 95 % confidence interval = 9.3-20.2 %) pet rodents. Of those rodents, 41.6 % (10/24) were rats (mean EPG = 55.7; range = 2-200), 29.2 % (7/24) mice (mean EPG = 64.5; range = 32-120), 25.0 % (6/24) were chinchillas (mean EPG = 25.5; range = 10-50), and 4.2 % (1/24) hamsters (P. campbelli) (EPG = 86.0). In addition, Hymenolepis diminuta eggs were found in 2 out of 172 (1.2 %; 95 % confidence interval = 0.2-4.6 %) rodents examined, both of which (100 %; 2/2) were pet squirrels (C. prevosti) (mean EPG = 10; range = 4-16). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a natural infection of H. diminuta in pet squirrels.
Skunks are popular carnivore species kept both in zoological institutions and in households where they are hand raised as exotic pets. These small carnivores are considered the main definitive hosts of the roundworm Baylisascaris columnaris. The purpose of this survey was to investigate the occurrence of Baylisascaris spp. in striped skunks kept as pets or in private zoo collections in some European areas. Copromicroscopic data from two laboratories, one in Italy and one in Germany, were used. A total of 60 animals were selected. Samples came from Germany (n = 30), Italy (n = 23), United Kingdom (n = 5), Austria (n = 1), and the Netherlands (n = 1). Twenty-eight animals were certainly kept as pets in private households in Italy and the UK. Fifteen out of 60 animals (25%) were positive for Baylisascaris spp. Molecular identification of adult parasites was performed in ten of those animals, revealing B. columnaris in all cases. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first survey of Baylisascaris spp. in captive skunks in Europe.
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