Prevalence of helminth parasites of dogs and owners awareness about zoonotic parasites in Ambo town, central Ethiopia

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infections of dogs in Ambo, Ethiopia, examination of 70 fecal samples and 52 necropsies were conducted from November 2007 to April 2008. The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths was 86.54% and 52.86% as detected by post mortem and coproscopical examination, respectively. The coproscopical examination revealed 35.7% infection with Ancylostoma caninum followed by Dipylidium caninum (25.57%), Toxocara canis (17.14%), Strogyloides stercoralis (14.29%) and Echinococcus granulosus (8.57%). Mixed infections with two or more parasites were also observed (62.16%). The study also indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) in the prevalence of Toxocara canis and Dipylidium caninum between the sexes. On the other hand, 86.54% of the necropsied dogs were found positive for one or more species of adult parasites and the specific species found were Dipylidium caninum (71.15%), Ancylostoma caninum (50%), Strongyloides stercoralis (40.38%), Toxocara canis (17.3%), Echinococcus granulosus (17.3%), Trichuris vulpis (3.8%) and Spirocerca lupi (1.9%). No significant difference in prevalence of the individual helminth species was noticed between the sexes and among the age groups. However, a significant difference (p<0.05) in the overall infection in the area was observed between the sexes. The study further indicated that, all of the respondents were ignorant on dog parasites and health related management aspect of dogs.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal parasites, Dogs, Prevalence, Ambo, Central Ethiopia