<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal and cardio-respiratory parasites in dogs in Liguria (northwest Italy) which is a region that has scarcely been studied. A total of 450 dogs (260 males and 190 females) were enrolled in the study from 2009 and 2013. All dogs lived in a rural or semi-rural environment in the provinces of Imperia (n = 352) or Savona (n = 98), Liguria. Coprological examinations showed that 197 dogs (43.8 %, CI 38.7-48.9 %) were infected by parasites. Specifically, 3.3 % of the dogs presented only cardio-respiratory species, 32.4 % only intestinal species, and 8.0 % presented a mixed infection.The most frequent intestinal parasites were <italic>Toxocara canis</italic> (20 %), <italic>Trichuris vulpis</italic> (17.8 %), Ancylostomatidae (12 %), Coccidia (2.7 %), <italic>Aonchotheca putorii</italic> (1.8 %) and <italic>Toxascaris leonina</italic> (1.8 %). The cardio-respiratory species found were <italic>Eucoleus aerophilus</italic> (9.6 %), <italic>Eucoleus boehmi</italic> (1.6 %), <italic>Angiostrongylus vasorum</italic> (0.7 %), and <italic>Crenosoma vulpis</italic> (0.2 %). A total of 116 dogs (25.8 %) were parasitized by a single species, multiple infections were observed in 81 dogs (18.0 %) up to a six-order infection.This preliminary study highlighted that the prevalence of intestinal parasites in investigated area is high. Cardio respiratory parasites were detected in an area that has not been investigated before. The creation of a more extensive sampling programme of the area, on a provincial basis in order to build a more detailed map of prevalences for different species of dog parasites throughout Liguria, a more extensive sampling programme of the area needs to be created - ideally for each province.</abstract>

The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal and cardio-respiratory parasites in dogs in Liguria (northwest Italy) which is a region that has scarcely been studied. A total of 450 dogs (260 males and 190 females) were enrolled in the study from 2009 and 2013. All dogs lived in a rural or semi-rural environment in the provinces of Imperia (n = 352) or Savona (n = 98), Liguria. Coprological examinations showed that 197 dogs (43.8 %, CI 38.7-48.9 %) were infected by parasites. Specifically, 3.3 % of the dogs presented only cardio-respiratory species, 32.4 % only intestinal species, and 8.0 % presented a mixed infection.The most frequent intestinal parasites were Toxocara canis (20 %), Trichuris vulpis (17.8 %), Ancylostomatidae (12 %), Coccidia (2.7 %), Aonchotheca putorii (1.8 %) and Toxascaris leonina (1.8 %). The cardio-respiratory species found were Eucoleus aerophilus (9.6 %), Eucoleus boehmi (1.6 %), Angiostrongylus vasorum (0.7 %), and Crenosoma vulpis (0.2 %). A total of 116 dogs (25.8 %) were parasitized by a single species, multiple infections were observed in 81 dogs (18.0 %) up to a six-order infection.This preliminary study highlighted that the prevalence of intestinal parasites in investigated area is high. Cardio respiratory parasites were detected in an area that has not been investigated before. The creation of a more extensive sampling programme of the area, on a provincial basis in order to build a more detailed map of prevalences for different species of dog parasites throughout Liguria, a more extensive sampling programme of the area needs to be created - ideally for each province.

Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy

Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy"}

The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal and cardio-respiratory parasites in dogs in Liguria (northwest Italy) which is a...

Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Aug 10, 2016

Page range: 318 - 325

Received: May 24, 2016

Accepted: Jul 13, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2016-0032

Keywords
dogs, helminths, epidemiology, Liguria, Italy

© 2016 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal parasites of dogs in north-west Italy

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Aug 10, 2016

Page range: 318 - 325

Received: May 24, 2016

Accepted: Jul 13, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2016-0032

Keywordsdogs, helminths, epidemiology, Liguria, Italy

© 2016 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
dogs, helminths, epidemiology, Liguria, Italy