Prevalence of parasitic infections of stray cats in Jammu, India

Abstract

Stray cats are afflicted with various parasitic infestations and the infective stages of these parasites may spread infection to other animals including human beings. The study was conducted for a period of one year from March 2009 to February 2010 to determine the prevalence of parasitic infection in and around Jammu-humid subtropical zone of North Western India. A total of 100 stray cats were examined using standard parasitological methods. Post mortem examinations of stray cats were also conducted to determine the presence of any mature parasite in the gastrointestinal system and other viscera. All the cats examined were found to be positive for one or other type of parasitic infection. Eggs identified were those of hookworms found to be predominant (80%) followed by Taeniid eggs (40%), Toxocara eggs (32%), Strongyloides eggs (28%), Dipylidium canium eggs (20%) and Spirometra eggs (8%). EPG of the positive samples were also recorded. Mean ± SD EPG of hookworm eggs, Toxocara eggs and Strongyloides eggs were 50 ± 1.81, 102.5± 4.81 and 87.57 ± 7.52 respectively. Besides these, prevalence of Toxoplasma/Hammondia oocyst was 88%, Isospora oocyst 80% and Cryptosporidium oocyst 4% (ZN-staining). Five cat carcasses lying open on the roadside were also collected and brought to the laboratory for post-mortem examination. While opening the carcasses, three different parasites were also found and they were identified as Ancylostoma tubaeforme (80%), Taenia taeniaeformis (60%) and Dipylidium caninum (40%). The high parasitic burden evident from this study could pose a potential threat to public health.

Prevalence and molecular characterization of zoonotic helminths in dogs

“…In the present study, 23.72% (121/510) of canine faecal samples were positive by conventional microscopic examination, however similar studies conducted by Palmer et al (2008) have also recorded a similar type of overall prevalence of 23.9% in dogs and 18.4% in cats. Roger et al (2004), Katagiri and Oliveira-Sequeira (2008) and Borkataki et al(2013) have recorded higher prevalence as reported in the present study which might be attributed to the sample size, population targeted and species of parasite identified. The species wise distribution results of our study showed that Ancylostoma spp.…”

Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in free ranging animals of Tehran, Iran

“…In similar researches conducted on the endoparasites of stray cats in Kashan Cryptosporidium was not pointed out (Arbabi and Hooshyar 2009). Another microscopic study by Borkataki indicated 4 % prevalence of Cryptosporidium among the stray cats in Jammu region in India (Borkataki et al 2013). Investigation about cryptosporidiosis in birds in Iran have been mostly done on the turkey, poultry, ostrich and borealis (Banani et al 2000;Shemshadi et al 2014).…”

Prevalence of Intestinal Worm in Free Ranging Domestic Cats in Bali (PREVALENSI CACING USUS PADA KUCING PELIHARAAN YANG BEBAS BERKELIARAN DI BALI)

“…Stray cats are predators that highly susceptible to a variety of parasitic infections because they can go everywhere and become a sources of parasite (Loss et al, 2013;Borkataki et al, 2013). Parasites in cats can impact to their health and to human in the vicinity (Krecek et al, 2010;Subrata et al, 2015), Toxocara sp and Ancylostoma sp are known to cause larva migrans in human being (Overgaauw and Knapen, 2013;Wiwanitkit and Wiwanitkit, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, public health education should be given to the pet owner and general public regarding the hazards of zoonotic diseases. Children are at most serious risk as they have the habit of playing with pet or even from the environment where cat feces may be present (Borkataki et al, 2013).…”