Situation of gastrointestinal helminth in dogs and the risk of transmission of Toxocara sp to human in Long Xuyen city, An Giang province

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infection in dog and to identify a number of infectious factors to human in Long Xuyen city, An Giang province. The collected data were analyzed by using Minitab software, version 15.The studied result showed that the dogs raising in the surveyed areas were infected with at least 7 helminth species belonging to two classes of Nematoda and Cestoda, and the infection rate was 73.67%. There were 4 species of Nematoda: Ancylostoma sp, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, and Trichocephalus vulpis; and 3 species of Cestoda: Dipylidium caninum, Spirometra caninum and Taenia sp. In particular, the infection rate of dogs with Ancylostoma sp was the highest, accounting for 62.62%. The infection rate of dogs under 6 months of age with Toxocara canis and Ancylostoma sp was higher than that of the older dogs (P <0.05). The rate of detecting ELISA antibodies against Toxocara sp in the persons raising dogs was 43.40%, higher than that in the persons without raising dog (17.65 %) (p < 0.05). Raising dog was considered as a risk factor for transmitting Toxocara sp into human with odd ratio was 3.57. The rate of detecting ELISA antibodies against Toxocara sp in the persons regularly contacting with dog was 53.66 %, It was higher than in those rarely contacting with dog (15.22 %) with odd ratio was 6.45.