Epidemiological Study of Non‐systemic Parasitism in Dogs in Southeast Mediterranean Spain Assessed by Coprological and Post‐mortem Examination

Abstract

The prevalence and risk factors of non-systemic canine ecto- and endoparasitism and anthelminthic use in Murcia located at the centre of the Spanish Mediterranean coastal arch, was investigated by coprology and necropsy in up to 275 pet, city shelter and stray dogs in 2001-2004. Faecal parasite stages were detected in 25% of dogs. Species frequency was 6-10% for Toxocara canis, Ancylostomatidae spp., Toxascaris leonina and Isospora canis, and 0.4-1% for Trichuris vulpis, Giardia lamblia, and Dipylidium caninum. Logistic regression indicated that the risk of intestinal parasitism was highest for dogs <or=1 year old, in the middle to low weight range and kept at the city shelter. Although risk factors varied according to the species, T. canis was most common in <1 year old and Ancylostomatidae spp. was more prevalent in older dogs. This suggests that the dominant species was Uncinaria spp. and not the more zoonotically important Ancylostoma spp. This was further supported by necropsy findings; however, the degree of agreement between post-mortem and coprological examination for intestinal parasites was generally poor. Necropsy revealed 10%G. lamblia, 12%Taenia spp. 38%D. caninum infections. Fleas, ticks and lice were also found in 38%, 6% and 2% of necropsied stray dogs. These results demonstrate the need for an urgent parasite control programme at the city dog shelter and the need to improve the owner's education on zoonotic risks, the proper use of anthelminthics, and other parasite control practices.

An epidemiological survey on intestinal helminths of stray dogs in Mashhad, North-east of Iran

“…As regards prevalence, this pattern has been found in the majority of recent studies from other area in Iran too (Dalimi et al 2006). Comparable with the findings of other studies (Fontanarrosa et al 2006;Martínez-Carrasco et al 2007;Martínez-Moreno et al 2007;Gates and Nolan 2009;Becker et al 2012), hookworms were found more frequently in older dogs compared to \1-year old puppies. This increase in frequency was the case for both species of hookworm, although in some studies, Ancylostoma infections were claimed to occur quite often in very young dogs because neonatal pups might become infected via the transmammary route (Coggins 1998;Little et al 2009).…”

“…In comparison, other findings from other geographic regions revealed that T. canis was higher in puppies than in older dogs (Razmi et al 2006;Papazahariadou et al 2007;Gholami et al 2011;Okoye et al 2011;Xhaxhiu et al 2011). As regards the effect of gender, in accordance with Fontanarrosa et al (2006); Martínez-Carrasco et al (2007) and Martínez-Moreno et al (2007), there was no significant difference in the overall prevalence of T. canis infection between males and females. Reviewing the literature, Papazahariadou et al (2007) described a tendency of T. canis infections to occur more often in adult male than female dogs.…”

Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites and Dirofilaria spp. in stray dogs from some regions in bulgaria

“…An investigation by coprology and microscopy in different European areas showed that the dogs cause infection with parasites of health importance for humans and many animal species. In Murcia region, located at the centre of the Spanish Mediterranean coastal arch, Martınez-Carrasco et al (2007) Analogous examinations in Bulgaria on 20 stray dogs from the Stara Zagora region were reported by Georgieva et al (1999). The study revealed invasions with 11 types of helmiths -5 cestode species and 6 nematode species.…”

Infección por Dipylidium caninum en un preescolar: Presentación del caso y revisión de la literatura

“…En España, en 13,2% de los perros sin hogar 13,14 y en Brasil 0,7% 15 . La parasitación es mayor en perros mayores de un año (Oschilewski D., datos no publicados) 8,10 , con cantidades variables de tenias, de 1 a 426 ejemplares/ animal [15][16][17][18][19] .…”