Principal intestinal parasites of dogs in Tirana, Albania

Abstract

From 2004 to 2009, the digestive tracts of 111 dogs from suburban areas around Tirana, Albania, were examined for intestinal helminths. In addition, rectal faecal samples of all dogs were examined for protozoan infections and 48 faecal samples from dogs >6 months of age were processed with the Baermann technique to test for the excretion of lungworm larvae. The heart and pulmonary arteries of 30 dogs >6 months of age also were examined for nematode parasites. The intestinal parasite fauna of the dogs included three protozoan species (Cystoisospora canis, Cystoisospora ohioensis/burrowsi, Sarcocystis spp.), three cestode species (Dipylidium caninum, Taenia hydatigena, Echinococcus granulosus), five nematode species (Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, Trichuris vulpis) and one acanthocephalan (Centrorhynchus buteonis). Rates of infection were: 15.3% for C. canis, 31.5% for C. ohioensis/burrowsi, 1.8% for Sarcocystis spp., 65.8% for D. caninum, 16.2% for T. hydatigena, 2.7% for E. granulosus (genotype G1), 13.5% for A. caninum, 64.9% for U. stenocephala, 75.7% for T. canis, 0.9% for T. leonina, 21.6% for T. vulpis and 0.9% for C. buteonis. Up to six species of gastrointestinal parasites were found per dog. The 63 ≤ 6-month-old dogs harboured significantly (p<0.001) fewer gastrointestinal parasite species concurrently (mean 2.65 ± 1.25 species per animal) than the 48 older animals (mean 3.77 ± 1.45 species per animal). Dogs >6 months of age harboured significantly (p<0.05) more D. caninum, T. hydatigena, A. caninum, U. stenocephala and T. vulpis compared to younger dogs. Conversely, the younger dogs harboured significantly (p<0.001) more T. canis than the older ones. There was no difference in the male and female dogs' counts of individual intestinal helminth species apart from T. hydatigena in dogs >6 months of age: Male dogs harboured significantly (p<0.05) more tapeworms than female dogs. Based on faecal examination, there was no indication for lungworm infection; however, two adult heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) were found in the right ventricle of one dog.

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

“…In this study, the prevalence of T. hydatigena was significantly higher in adult animals than in young which in agreement with Razmi et al (2006) and Xhaxhiu et al (2011) that they reported more infection rate in animals older than one year old. The reasons explaining highest prevalence of T. hydatigena in the old dogs are unknown.…”

“…Furthermore, no significant differences were observed between the proportions of juvenile and adult dogs infected with T. canis which consistent with result of Omar and Lewis (1993) from Egypt and Bajera et al (2011) from Poland. 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.…”

“…The overall frequently of T. canis (29 %) obtained here is comparable to those obtained in previous studies from Iran (Dalimi et al 2006;Razmi et al 2006;Eslami et al 2010). Additionally, a number of recently conducted surveys of canine parasitism in the other region reported T. canis as the most or second most prevalent intestinal nematode parasite of dogs ((Fontanarrosa et al 2006;Papazahariadou et al 2007;Bridger and Whitney 2009;Gates and Nolan 2009;Shalaby et al 2010;Xhaxhiu et al 2011;Becker et al 2012). These data suggest that there was no significant downward long-term in the prevalence of this parasite as reported in other countries.…”

“…Numerous studies have been conducted on the prevalence of the gastrointestinal helminths of stray dogs from areas all over the world including Iran (Dalimi et al 2006;Fontanarrosa et al 2006;Razmi et al 2006;Martínez-Moreno et al 2007;Eslami et al 2010;Shalaby et al 2010;Bajera et al 2011;Xhaxhiu et al 2011). However, current information on regional prevalence is essential for development and modification of control measures in animal and public health.…”

Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy

“…In fact, dog parasites represent a potential risk to public health, especially in children or immuno-compromised people, since direct or indirect transmission of parasitic infections from dogs to humans can occur (Martínez-Moreno et al, 2007;Xhaxhiu et al, 2011). Thus, there is continuing interest in implementing control measures (Traversa, 2012).…”