Domestic dog health worsens with socio-economic deprivation of their home communities

Abstract

Evaluating relationships between poverty and dog health, we find that dogs in poor communities are sicker and more likely to be infected with zoonotic pathogens . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 Here, we compare several dog health indicators in three rural communities of Panama with different degrees of socio-economic deprivation. From a total of 78 individuals, we collected blood and fecal samples, and assessed their body condition. With the blood samples, we performed routine hematologic evaluation (complete blood counts) and measured cytokine levels (Interferon-γ and Interleukin-10) through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. With the fecal samples we diagnosed helminthiases. Dogs were also serologically tested for exposure to Trypanosoma cruzi and canine distemper virus, and molecular tests were done to assess T. cruzi infection status. We found significant differences between dog health measurements, pathogen prevalence, parasite richness, and economic status of the human communities where the dogs lived. We found dogs that were less healthy, more likely to be infected with zoonotic pathogens, and more likely to be seropositive to canine distemper virus in the communities with lower economic status. This study concludes that isolated communities of lower economic status in Panama may have less healthy dogs that could become major reservoirs in the transmission of diseases to humans and sympatric wildlife.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in dogs: is high seroprevalence indicative of a reservoir role?

“…The skin lesions we observed in dogs were not typical of ACL. This might reflect that in tropical regions, like our study site, skin diseases in dogs due to ectoparasites, bacteria and fungus are very frequent and may result in similar skin lesions, complicating the clinical diagnosis of ACL (Fung et al 2014 ).…”

“…Blood samples were collected from the cephalic vein under minimal stress with the consent and in the presence of the owners. Age, sex and body condition of each dog were assessed during sample collection following standard procedures described by Fung et al ( 2014 ). Dog age was calculated based on the owner information, and independently corroborated by dentition and tartar deposition patterns.…”

Reservoir host competence and the role of domestic and commensal hosts in the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi

“…Host conditions varied widely within the same village and even more within the same region depending on local levels of socioeconomic deprivation. Dogs owned by poor households were concomitantly in poor body condition elsewhere (Fung et al, 2014).…”

Natural infection by Trypanosoma cruzi in triatomines and seropositivity for Chagas disease of dogs in rural areas of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

“…In regards to seropositivity in dogs, the health status of the dogs, due to poor nutrition and immunosuppression, may be directly reflected in the antibody levels 39,40 . Therefore, the differences between regions need to be considered when evaluating the transmission cycle of T. cruzi in home areas, since socioeconomic indexes and infection risks are directly related 49 .…”