Epidemiological investigation of gastrointestinal parasites in dog populations in Basra province, Southern Iraq

The Prevalence of Canine Dipylidiasis in Baghdad city, Iraq‎ ‎

Dipylidiasis is a zoonotic intestinal cestode disease caused by Dipylidium caninum. ‎The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Dipylidium caninum infections ‎in dogs from Baghdad city. The study involved the impact of sexes, age, during nine months ‎‎(from January to October 2021) on dipylidiasis infection in pet and stray dogs. 108 faecal ‎samples were collected from (54 pets and 54 stray dogs) then examined for the detection of D. ‎caninum egg capsules and eggs using coprological diagnosis (flotation and sedimentation ‎methods) in the laboratory of parasitology / College of Veterinary Medicine, University of ‎Baghdad. The overall infection rate was 14.81% (16/108). The study revealed the infection rate ‎of D. caninum from pets and stray dogs was 9.26% (5/54), and 20.37% (11/54), respectively. ‎Infection rates in stray dogs were high during March, April, and May (12.5% for each month), ‎compared with pet dogs (0%, 6.25%, 6.25%) respectively, while in January, the rate of ‎infection was 0% in both types, significantly (P<0.05) during March. A significant difference ‎was recorded (P<0.01) between the sexes in both dog types, females recorded a higher 25% ‎‎(3/12) infection rate than males 19.05% (8/42) in stray dogs, compared to the females, 5.9% ‎‎(1/17) and males, 10.8% (4/37) in pet dogs, respectively. According to the age, a high infection ‎rate was found in stray dog adults (20.51%), while the infection rate was zero (0%) in pet dog ‎puppies, with a significant difference (p < 0.01) between the age groups in both types. The ‎results revealed that stray and pet dogs may play a larger role in the spread of zoonotic ‎dipylidiasis and that public health needs more concerted efforts to educate dog owners and ‎implement control programs to prevent the infective stage maturation by cutting life cycle of ‎intermediate hosts.

The Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Native Dogs in Palestine

Background:

Dogs play an important role in transmission of parasites and zoonotic diseases, especially in developing countries. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of internal parasites in stray and pet dogs in Palestine.

Methods:

Fecal samples were collected during the period between Jan to May 2019. A total of 150 fecal samples were collected and tested for parasites using sedimentation and flotation techniques. The targeted dogs were both pet dogs and stray dogs and were grouped according to gender and age.

Results:

Although there was no significant difference in infestation between males and females, the prevalence rate of infestation in males was 63.1% compared to females 72.4%. Dogs of ages under one year had similar rate of infestation compared to older dogs with a rate of 67.3% and 67.4% respectively. Infestations were significantly higher (P<0.05) in stray dogs 81.4% compared to pet dogs 48.4%. The highest infestation rate was with Toxocara canis 46.0% followed by Dipylidium caninum 23.0%, Echinococcus spp. 14.0% ,Isosopora canis 9.0%, Ancylostoma caninum 8.0%, Giarda spp. 5.0%, Strongyloides spp. 4.0%, Trichuris vulpis 3.0%, and Cryptosporidium spp. 3.0%.

Conclusion:

Local dogs in Palestine, especially stray dogs, are infested with different types of intestinal parasites that may cause many common and non-common diseases to humans. To prevent the spread of these parasites, future public health should be proposed and applied by authorities to achieve a healthy status of the residents in the country. Health awareness spread among people about the seriousness of the diseases transmitted by dogs must also be activated.

The Prevalence of Intestinal Helminths in Free-Ranging Canids of Mazandaran, Northern Iran

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current knowledge on the epidemiology of importance zoonotic parasitic diseases in free-ranging canids of Mazandaran, north of Iran.

METHODS

Overall, 63 small intestinal samples of animals (20 stray dogs and 43 golden jackals) were collected from April 2017 to May 2018. The intestine contents were studied to detect and identify helminth infections. Additionally, 274 fecal samples (130 dogs, 35 fox, 90 golden jackal and 19 wolf) were examined by Sheather's flotation method for detection of Taenia eggs.

RESULTS

Sixty (95.2%) animals were infected with at least one species of intestinal helminth. the intestinal helminths were found in dogs and golden jackals included: Dipylidium caninum (25.3%), Uncinaria stenocephala (52.3%), Ancylostoma caninum (41.2%), Mesocestoides spp. (33.3%) and Toxocara canis (14.2%). In fecal examination, 2.5% of samples contained Taenia eggs, and through a species-specific PCR, 1.09% of these samples were confirmed positive for Echinococcus granulosus.

CONCLUSION

There is a high prevalence and clear risks of zoonotic helminths in free-ranging carnivores in Mazandaran province, north of Iran. Therefore, understanding the epidemiology of zoonotic parasite infection is useful for health care access both domestic animals and humans health.