The Factors related to ingestion and intestinal passage of helminth eggs in dogs kept on contaminated environment

Abstract

Introduction. Studies from all over the world have demonstrated the high rates (10-30%) of soil contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs in back yards, sandpits, parks, playgrounds, lake beaches, and other public places. Toxocara spp. eggs can survive for several years in the soil due to their tough outer shell preventing from the adverse environmental conditions (Lloyd, 1993; Gamboa, 2005; Mizgajska-Wiktor and Uga, 2006)Meanwhile, in a recent study, it was reported that out of 246 dogs excreting Toxocara spp. eggs in their faeces, 120 (48,8%) were coprophagic (Nijsse et al. 2014). The aim. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of environmental contamination with non embryonated Toxocara spp. eggs on the excretion of intestinal parasite eggs in the feces of vilage dogs and results of coproscopic examinations in treated and non-treated dogs. Material and methods). A total of 894 village dogs with the opportunity for individual sampling of faces from the ground (i.e. dogs on chain (n=713) or in pens (n=181) were included in this study. [...].