Prevalence of Zoonotic and Other Intestinal Protozoan Parasites in Stray Cats (Felis domesticus) of Kerman, South-East of Iran

Abstract

Intestinal protozoan parasites constitute a major source of diseases for stray cats and have been recognized as important public health problems in several parts of the world. Considering the potential risk of stray cats for public health, present cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the type and frequency of protozoan parasites by faecal examination. A total of 100 stray cats were examined in Kerman city, Iran, Overall 67 cats (67%) were infected with at least one protozoan parasite. The following parasites, with their respective prevalence, were found; Isospora felis 38%, Isospora rivolta 25%, Toxoplasma gondii 16%, Sarcocystis spp. 8%, Cryptosporidium spp. 7%, and Giardia sp. 5%. Based on our data, the sex of stray cats was not significantly associated with the prevalence of gastrointestinal protozoan parasites. The high infection rate of zoonotic intestinal protozoan parasites in stray cats is considered to be critical from the viewpoint of public health importance.

Cryptosporidium and Giardia Infection in Pet Animals: A review Study in Iraq

“…Roaming cats have a defecation behavior which is considered a source of zoonotic diseases [12]. In developing countries, inadequate sanitary conditions and the insufficient resources of education and medical resources increase the opportunity of exposure to the parasitic stages that eliminated from feces of infected dogs [13].…”

“…Giardiasis is considered as most prominent intestinal parasitic infection among companion pets (dogs and cats) in the developing countries. Giardia species belong to phylum Fornicata class Trepomonadea family Giardidae; can be classified according to host origin and morphology of the trophozoites basically by the appearance of the median bodies [13,14].…”

Gastrointestinal helminths infection of free‐roaming cats (Felis catus) in Southeast Iran

“…They disperse organisms such as helminth eggs, parasitic larvae and protozoan cysts into the public environment, thus posing an infection risk (Arbabi & Hooshyar, 2009 ; Borji et al., 2011 ). Gastrointestinal parasites worldwide pose a significant risk for both cats and humans (Beigi et al., 2017 ; Kostopoulou et al., 2017 ; Sauda et al., 2019 ; Szwabe & Błaszkowska, 2017 ). Moreover, it is believed that the close association between cats and humans is the cause of the high endemicity of certain zoonotic diseases, such as toxocariasis (Dantas‐Torres & Otranto, 2014 ; Overgaauw et al., 2020 ; Torgerson & Macpherson, 2011 ).…”

“…Iran has a huge free‐roaming cat population, and as most are forced to scavenge for food in trash cans, dumpsters and hunters of rodents, their gastrointestinal infection rate is likely to be high (Beigi et al., 2017 ; Mirzaei et al., 2016 ). Therefore, cat parasite prevalence is an important issue in Iran.…”

Analysis of the accuracy of different laboratory methods for the diagnosis of intestinal parasites from stray and domiciled cats (Felis catus domesticus) in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

“…Human contact with feces of infected animals is considered a public health problem due to the possibility of zoonotic transmission (TESSEROLLI et al, 2005;BRENER et al, 2005;JOFFILY et al, 2013;BEIGI et al, 2017;LIMA et al, 2017).…”