Intestinal helminths of stray dogs from Tunisia with special reference to zoonotic infections

Abstract

Sixteen intestinal helminth species were recovered from 271 necropsied stray dogs during a survey undertaken in Raoued and Soukra, two northeastern rural regions of Tunisia. Recorded parasites included trematodes (Brachylaemus sp., Phagicola italica, Heterophyes heterophyes), cestodes (Echinococcus granulosus, Dipylidium caninum, Diplopylidium noelleri, Mesocestoides lineatus, Mesocestoides litteratus, Taenia hydatigena, Taenia pisiformis, Taenia multiceps), nematodes (Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Trichuris vulpis) and one acanthocephalan Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus. This is the first record of Brachylaemus sp., P. italica, H. heterophyes, D. noelleri and M. hirudinaceus in dogs from Tunisia. Echinococcus granulosus was found in 5·16% of dogs with a higher intensity of infection recorded in younger animals (303 worms/infected dog). Molecular analysis confirmed E. granulosus sensu stricto as the cause of canine echinococcosis. This epidemiological study investigating the status of intestinal helminths of dogs recorded a prevalence of 98·89% and a mean intensity of 87·62 worms per infected dog and confirmed the infection of 95·14% of dogs with helminths of potential zoonotic concern. Results of this study emphasize the need to interrupt parasite transmission using preventive approaches in zoonoses control programmes mainly against cystic echinococcosis, as well as reducing transmission to other animals by regular dog dosing treatments and proper management of dog populations.

Prevalence of Intestinal Helminth Infections of Stray Dogs of Public Health Significance in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

“…Few studies in Nigeria have demonstrated the presence of ova of intestinal helminths in the stools of dogs [5][6][7], [9], [20][21]. Some of the helminth ova observed in this study were reported in other studies conducted in other parts of the world [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] . The report of these various studies showed that species of Ancylostoma, Toxocara and Dipylidium are the most widely distributed gastrointestinal helminth parasites of stray dogs globally, while S. stercoralis seems to be the least.…”

“…The report of these various studies showed that species of Ancylostoma, Toxocara and Dipylidium are the most widely distributed gastrointestinal helminth parasites of stray dogs globally, while S. stercoralis seems to be the least. However, other studies have identified some other species of gastrointestinal helminths like Ascaris species, Trichuris trichiura [3], Taenia species, Mesocestoides species [33], Toxascaris leonine [28], Uncinaria stenocephala, Trichinella species [34], and Heterophyes heterophyes [32]. It was observed that the distribution and prevalence of these parasites differ slightly from one study area to another.…”

“…; Vol. 9, Issue 1, pp: [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]2020 owners can further help reduce the number of stray dogs, for instance, in Pescara, Italy, stray dogs were identified and registered between 2004 and 2008 and this led to a great decrease in the numbers of stray dogs from about 5,000 to 2,300. These dogs can also be adopted by individuals while diseased ones can be subjected to euthanasia.…”

Cystic echinococcosis and other helminth infections of wild boar in northeastern and northwestern regions of Tunisia

“…However, necropsy remains as the gold standard technique for screening helminth fauna in hunted animals while coproscopy represents a supplementary test utilized to complement observed results. Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus encountered in the present investigation at high prevalence (61.7% ± 0.03) has been previously reported from necropsied wild canids and stray dogs in Tunisia (Lahmar et al ., 2009 a , 2017) as well as from swine in other countries (Eslami and Farsad-Hamdi, 1992; Solaymani-Mohammadi et al ., 2003; Foata et al ., 2005; Senlik et al ., 2011; Mansouri et al ., 2016).…”

First Molecular Identification of Taenia hydatigena in Wild Ungulates in Poland

“…According to Lahmar et al (2017), in some countries rural stray dogs are mainly transmitting the tapeworm in the environment. Taenia hydatigena was also detected in dogs in Poland and Ukraine (Okulewicz et al 1994; Komyushin et al 2013; Karamon et al 2016).…”