The prevalence and abundance of helminth parasites in stray dogs from the city of Queretaro in central Mexico

Abstract

The prevalence of helminth species in stray dogs, from the capital city of the state of Queretaro, was evaluated. A total of 378 dogs were captured and examined for the presence of helminths from January to December 2008. The results showed that 275 (72.8%) of examined dogs were infected with one or more helminth species. Single infections were observed in 139 (50.5%) of infected dogs and 136 (49.5%) harboured mixed infections. Out of the 378 dogs examined, 208 (55.2%) presented nematodes and 182 (48.1%) cestodes. The prevalences (confidence interval) and mean intensities of infection ( ± SD) of nematodes and cestodes encountered were:Ancylostoma caninum42.9% (37.9–47.8) and 22.1 ( ± 34.3);Toxocara canis15.1% (11.8–19.0) and 8.3 ( ± 15.0);Spirocerca lupi4.5% (2.7–7.1) and 3.9 ( ± 4.8);Toxascaris leonina2.3% (1.1–4.5) and 4.8 ( ± 3.5);Physaloptera praeputialis1.9% (0.8–3.8) and 9.7 ( ± 14.9);Dirofilaria immitis1.3% (0.4–3.1) and 5.6 ( ± 2.1);Oslerus osleri0.3% (0.0–1.6) and 5 ( ± 0.0);Dipylidium caninum44.9% (40.0–50.0) and 18.1 ( ± 27.7);Taeniaspp. 6.9% (4.7–9.9) and 6.9 ( ± 7.1). There were no significant differences in prevalences observed either between female (68.5%) and male (76.8%) or between young (70.6%) and adult (74.2%) animals. No differences were observed in the ANOVA test for the mean intensity of infection of any of the parasites (P>0.05).

Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in domestic dogs in Tabasco, southeastern Mexico

“…Likewise, A. caninum was the most common parasite in the surveys performed in Yucatan and Mexico City where it was detected in 73.8% and 62.5% of dogs, respectively (EGUÍA-AGUILAR et al, 2005;RODRIGUEZ-VIVAS et al, 2011). A. caninum was the second most common parasite in dogs in Queretaro where it was detected in 42.9% of the sample population (CANTÓ et al, 2011). T. canis was detected in 2.3% of the dogs assessed in the present study.…”

“…In contrast, evidence of mixed parasite infections were detected in 49.5% dogs in Queretaro (CANTÓ et al, 2011) and 24.4% dogs in Yucatan (RODRIGUEZ-VIVAS et al, 2011). These differences could reflect the lower overall GI parasite prevalence observed in our study (26.5%) compared to the other two studies (72.8-80.0%).…”

“…T. canis was detected in 2.3% of the dogs assessed in the present study. This parasite has been reported elsewhere in Mexico, including Yucatan (where 6.2% of dogs tested positive), Mexico City (13.3%), Campeche (14.4%), Queretaro (15.1%) and Oaxaca (47.8%) (CANTÓ et al, 2011;EGUÍA-AGUILAR et al, 2005;ENCALADA-MENA et al, 2011;RODRIGUEZ-VIVAS et al, 2011;VELEZ-HERNANDEZ et al, 2014).…”

Age-Dependant Prevalence of Endoparasites in Young Dogs and Cats up to One Year of Age

“…In contrast, there are only isolated studies which show no significant differences in the prevalence of helminth parasites in stray dogs between young and adult animals (Cantó et al 2011). The high risk potential for mono-infections in young dogs is confirmed by higher co-infection rates with endoparasites in young dogs compared to older dogs.…”

Intestinal parasites of the bobcat (Lynx rufus) in areas surrounding Queretaro, Mexico

“…(Fernández et al 2002;Cantó et al 2011), and in the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), also with S. stercoralis (Hernández-Camacho et al 2011), to mention a few examples. T. vulpis is recorded…”