Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Humans and Dogs in Amazah District of Jos-North LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Breeding of dogs in houses is a common practice in Amazah District which results in very close contact between humans and dogs. With  the sharing of space, and sometimes even food, the conditions for the transmission of different zoonoses are created. This study was  conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of humans and dogs for treatment, control and prevention purposes  in Amazah District, Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) stool samples of dogs and humans were  collected from five (5) wards. Two diagnostic techniques namely, formol-ether concentration and flotation were used to analyse 100 each  of the stool samples of dogs and humans. An overall prevalence of 41% and 52% were obtained from human and dog samples  respectively. The variations observed between the prevalence in dog and man was found not to be statistically significant (p-value =  0.750). By gender, high prevalence of parasite eggs was recorded in males of humans and dogs compared to the females. However, the  variations observed was not significant (p>0.05). In terms of age, the young humans (1-8 years) and dogs (<1-4 months) recorded higher  prevalence of parasite eggs compared to the older age group (9-12 years) and >4 months respectively; the variation observed between  the age groups of both human (p>0.05) and dog (p>0.05) was not found to be significant. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal  parasites in both humans and dogs is high in this study. Males of both humans and dogs harbour more parasites compared to their  female counterpart. It is therefore, recommended that public enlightenment be carried out in Amazah District to inform early diagnosis  and treatment of gastrointestinal parasitic infections both in humans and pets.