k'tomarv Pata3ttology, 38 ( 1991 ) 6 7 - 7 3 Else~ mr S c i e n c e P u b h s h e r s B . V , ~ . m s t e r d a m

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Short Communication Helminth and protozoan parasites in dogs and cats in Belgium O. Vanparijs, L. H e r m a n s and L. van der Flaes Janssen Pharmaceutlca, B-2340 Beetle (Belgmm) ( Accepted for p u b h c a u o n 8 August 1990)

4BSTR~kCT Vanparus, O , H e r m a n s , L a n d van der Flaes, L , 1991 H e l m m t h a n d protozoan parasites m dogs a n d cats m B e l g m m I'et Pata~ttol, 38 6 7 - 7 3 T h i s s t u d y investigates the level o f helmlnth~c a n d protozoal m f e s t a n o n over the last 10 3ears in strays, well-cared-for dogs a n d cats D e t e r m i n a t i o n o f the prevalence o f m f e c u o n s was based etthm on faecal e x a m i n a t i o n or on w o r m c o u n t s at necropsy O f 2324 faecal f l o t a u o n s ( NaCI sp gr 1 20 ) of stray dogs, 34 2% h a d eggs or p r o g l o m d s o f one or m o r e w o r m specms consisting o f ToAocata rants ( 17 4% ), To.~ascarls leonma ( 10 l% ), Unctnatm stenocephala ( 11 4% ), Tttchut ts vtt[pls ( 7 0% ) a n d cestodes (2.1%) Isospora oocysts were o b s e ~ e d in 5 2% o f the dogs T h e data on the d l s t n b u t m n o f the various w o r m species m the poslhve dogs indicate that / cant5 eggs were b~r far the m o s t c o m m o n (50 9%) Necropsy data from 212 Infected dogs m d m a t e that 38 9% were infected ~ l t h T ~um~ a n d 33 7% with T ]eonlna T h e overall prex alence o f w o r m m f e s t a u o n o f 246 ~ell-cared-for kennel dogs, based on w o r m egg c o u n t s by the M c M a s t e r t e c h m q u e , was 36 1%. O f 30 feline faecal samples e x a m reed b) flotatmn, 83.3% were p o s t u r e for parasites, including To.xocata cart (60%). 4m ik~sto,na tuhaelormae ( 36 6% ), Taema (ttydattgera) taemaeJormls 120% ) a n d coccldta ( 30o,'0 ) To_xotata cart ~ a s the m o s t frequently f o u n d w o r m species at the necropsy o f 25 cats (52%) T o x o p l a s m a was not observed

INTRODUCTION

Many studies on the prevalence ofendoparasites in dogs and cats have been reported from areas all over the world. In a recent survey performed in Kingston, Jamaica, 58% o f 141 faecal samples of well-cared-for dogs were found to contain eggs of one or more helminths (Robinson et al., 1989). In a study of 2294 faecal samples obtained from privately owned pets presented at the School o f Veterinary Medicine o f the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 34.8% were positive for one or more parasite species (Kirkpatrick, 1988 ). In the same survey, 24.6% of 452 feline faecal samples were positive for parasites. The results o f an investigational study to determine the prevalence of

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gastrointestinal helminths of 254 dogs in Calabar, Nigeria, showed 86.9% of the animals infected (Ugochukwu and Ejimadu, 1985 ). Relatively few studies have been reported from Europe. A survey of helminths in stray cats autopsied in Copenhagen, Denmark, showed 79% of 230 cats positive for Toxocara cat1 (Engbaek et al., 1984). In a previous study conducted from 1965 to 1972 in Belgium, 27% of 1832 stray dog faecal samples were positive for one or more worm species and the autopsy of 125 randomly chosen stray dogs revealed 44% infected with a total of eight helmmth species. An autopsy survey of 500 cats indicated 88% infected with one or more worm species (Vanparijs and Thienpont, 1973 ). The objective of this study was to determine a more recent prevalence of intestinal infections in dogs and cats in Belgium based on records of faecal examination and autopsy findings between 1980 and 1990. M-kTERIALSAND METHODS In a study conducted from 1980 to 1990 the prevalence of worm infestation and protozoa was determined in dogs based on faecal examination of 2324 samples and on autopsy of 212 randomly selected positive dogs. Dogs were supplied by a dealer who obtained them from various areas m Belgium. The dogs were mostly strays of various breed, age and sex. They were housed in individual cages for a few days. Faecal samples were usually taken from flesh early morning stools and examination was performed by use of the sodium chloride (sp.gr. 1.20) flotation technique. Tapeworm-infected dogs were identified on the basis of the presence of proglottids in the faeces. Animals were euthanized and the intestinal tract removed, slit open and scraped. The contents were washed with tap water on a 60-mesh sieve (aperture size 250/2m) before examination for helminths. To compare the worm population in stray dogs with that in well-cared-for dogs, a study was conducted in four dog kennels with a total of 246 adult pets based on the number of eggs per gram of faeces (EPG) by use of the McMaster egg count method. The dogs were of different sex and either poodles, teckels, cocker spaniels or labradors. A second study was conducted to determine the prevalence and the severity of worm infestation and protozoa in 30 abandoned adult cats provided by a local dealer. They were individually housed and faecal samples were collected for coprological examination by faecal flotation technique with sodium chloride (sp.gr. 1.20 ). Twenty-five cats used for other research purposes and which were positive for one or more worm species were necropsied to determine the severity of the worm burdens. The necropsy and worm count procedure was the same as for dogs.

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HELIvllNTH/PROTOZO,~N PA.R~SITES IN DOGS AND CATS RESULTS

The prevalence of worm infestations found by NaCI faecal flotation of 2324 dogs is presented in Table 1. The most frequently observed parasite was Toxocara cants, found in 17.4% of the dogs. Toxascaris leonma and the hookworm (Uncmaria stenocephala) were found in 10.1 and 11.4% of the dogs, respectively. The overall infestation of the 2324 dogs with one or more worm speoes was 795, or 34.2%. In addition to the helminth parasites, the protozoans Isospora cants and/or Isospora bigemina were found in 120 dogs ( 5.2% ). The distribution o f the various worm species as shown in Table 1 indicates that T. cants eggs were present in about 50% of the parasite-positive dogs. Table 2 shows the prevalence of single and multiple infectmns in 795 positive dogs as determined by faecal examination. Polyinfestations were far less common than were infections with a single parasite species. Of five dogs inT-kBLE 1 Helmlnth and protozoal mfecuons found by faecal flotation (NaCI sp gr 1 20) and gross exammau o n of stools from 2324 stray dogs

Parasites

Dogs positive

Toxocara ¢ants Toxascatls leonma ['nctnatta stenocephala Trwtuo ts ~ulpts Taema plst/brmts Dtpvhdutm cantnum lsospota cants l~ospopa btgemtna

No

%

405 236 266 163 35 16 85 35

17 4 10 1 11 4 7.0 15 0 6 3 7 15

TABLE 2 Pre~ alence of mono- and polymfestatlons m 795 stray dogs N u m b e r of different

Dogs posmve

parasites Monolnfestatlon Polymfestatlon Two w o r m species

Three worm species Four worm species Total

No

%

536

67 4

197 57 5 795

24 8 72 0 6

Percent w o r m distribution in posltl~ e dogs 50 29 33 20 4 2 -

9 6 4 5 4 0

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() ~ ~.NPCR[JS ET ~.L

TABLE 3 Se~ertt:, o f ~ o r m burdens found at necrops3 m 212 infected dogs

Dogs positive

Parasites

Toxocata ~ams 7o,~astarts leonma L ncmaua.~tenotephala 1)tchutts )ulpt~ Taenta p t ~ t h . m t s l)q~/1chum ~antnlcm

Mean ~ o r m burden ( range )

No

%

90 78 66 52 I0 24

38 33 28 22 4 10

9 7 5 5 3 3

14( 1-82 ) 22(1-278) 52( 1-355 ) 136(1-2612) 8 ( 2-22 I 23 ( 1-80 )

T~BLE 4 Pre~ alence of mono- and poly~nfestanons wtth parasites found at necrops~ of 212 sn a.~ dogs and 8q kennel dogs

Number of dlfl'erent parasites Monomfestauon Po13 infestation T~o ~orm speoes Three w o r m s p e o e s Fore ~ o r m species

Tolal

Stra~ dogs poslm e

kennel dogs posl|l,, e

No

%

No

%

129

60 9

63

70 8

62 17 4 212

29 2 80 19

20 4 2 89

22 5 4 5 2 2

fected with worm species, one was infected with only four roundworms and four with three roundworm and one tapeworm species. The autopsy data of 212 randomly selected dogs infected with one or more worm species are summarized in Table 3. Ascarids ( T cams and T leonma ) were the most frequently identified parasites. The mean worm burden of whipworm ( Trichurts vulpts) was exceptionally high because one dog was infected with 2612 worms. The prevalence of mono- and polyinfestations (Table 4) based on worm counts by autopsy is comparable to that recorded by faecal examination (Table 2), confirming the predominant frequency' of monoinfestation. The results of the pilot study on the prevalence of parasmc infections m 246 well-cared-for kennel dogs, and the severity of the infection based on faecal egg counts, are summarized in Table 5. The overall infestation of the dogs with one or more worm species was 89, or 36.1%. Whipworm ( T. vulpts) was the most frequent worm species with 61 out of 89 dogs with a positive faecal sample. The highest Trtchuris egg load was 14 400. A second study, conducted with a small number of cats to determine the

HELMINTH/PROTOZOzkN P-~RASITESIN DOGS AND CATS

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TABLE 5 Prexalence o f h e l m m t h refections m 246 kennel dogs and worm egg counts examined by the McM[aster technique Parasites

Dogs p o s t u r e

Mean worm EPG

(range) ToxoLata cants To_xascw~s leonlna 'nt tnal m stenocephala T~whurls Vlt[pls

No

%

30 11 21 61

12 4 8 24

2 5 5 7

750(100-2000) 1300(100-3500) 1350 ( 100-6700 ) 1200 ( 100-14400 )

TABLE 6 H e l m m t h and protozoal lnfectmons found by faecal examination o f 30 stray cats Parasites

Toxocara cats 4ncvlo~tonla tubaeformae Taenla (Itydattgela) taemaeJbrmts I~o Wot a t t ~o l t a lsospora fehs

Cats positive No

%

18 11 6

60 0 36 6 20 0

3

10 0

6

20 0

TABLE 7 Sex ent~, of worms recovered m 2 5 infected cats at necrops~ Parasites

Toxocata call 4 nh3 lostoma tuba(formae Taenla (H) dattgepa) taenlae/ormls

Cats p o s t u r e

Mean worm burden ( range )

No.

%

13 5 7

52.0 20 0 28 0

14(1-75) 18(1-38) 4 ( 1 - 7)

prevalence o f gastrointestinal and protozoal infections, demonstrated that 25 of 30 cats, or 83.3%, were infected with one or more worm species. As shown in Table 6 the infestation consisted o f Toxocara catl (60%), Ankylostoma tubaeformae (36.6%), Taenta (Hydatigera) taeniaeformis (20%) and L¢ospora (30%). Oocysts of Toxoplasma gondit and Giardla sp. were not observed. The high prevalence o f the ascarid in cats was also found by autopsy of 25 randomly selected animals o f other origin, infected with one or more worm species which revealed that 50.2% were infected with'T catt (Table 7 ).

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DISCUSSION

The results of this 1980-1990 study indicate that T cants, T leonma and U. stenocephala in dogs and T. cati in cats are the most common worm spectes found in Belgium. The overall infestation of 34.2% of the dogs with one or more worm species was higher than that observed in a previous study ( 19651972; Vanparijs and Thlenpont, 1973) where 27% of 1832 dogs were found to be positive by faecal examination. The study in kennel dogs revealed that even pet dogs, which are afforded a relatively high level of care, frequently harbour intestinal parasites (36.1%). Whipworm infestation in the kennel dogs was exceptionally high (24.7%) compared to ascarids (16.7%) and hookworms (8.5%). This phenomenon may be related to the strong resistance of Trichurts eggs to external factors. The thick-shelled eggs are remarkably resistant to temperature. They can survtve at - 2 0 ° C and are not killed when kept at a temperature of 50°C for 12 days (Soulsby, 1965). Although a limited number of cats were examined, the overall number of positive cats (83.3%) was comparable to the prevalence of helminth refections ( 88% ) observed by autopsy of 500 cats in the prevtous study from Belgium (Vanparijs and Thienpont, 1973 ). In the present study the prevalence of T catt (60%) was higher than that found in another Belgian survey ( 22.7% ) on 150 house cats (van Beeck et al., 1985 ) and lower than that observed m a survey conducted in Denmark ( 79% ) by Engbaek et al. ( 1984 ). This study reveals that in dogs and cats ascarids are the most prevalent helmmth in Belgium. Both T cants and T catl species are of parttcular importance for public health, as they can cause visceral and ocular larva mlgrans, especially in children (Schantz and Glickman, 1978 ). -kCKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank J. Frederickx and Y. Devocht for secretarial work.

REFERENCES Engbaek, K , Madsen. H and Larsen, S.O.. 1984. ~ survey of helmmths of stray cats from Copenhagen w tth ecologtcal aspects Z Parasltenkd., 70.87-94. K~rkpatnck. C E. 1988 Ep~zoot~ology of endoparasltxc mfect~ons m pet dogs and cats p~esented to a ~etermary teaching hospital Vet. Paras~tol, 30" 113-124 Robinson, R D Thompson, D.L. and Lmdo. J . F , 1989 A surve~ of intestinal helmmths of well-cared-for dogs m Jamaica and their potenual pubhc health slgmficance J Helmmthol, 63.32-38 Schantz, P M and Ghckman, k T , 1978 Toxocaral v~sceral laiwa m~grans N Engl J Med, 298 436-439.

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Soulsb~, E J L, 1965 Nematodes of the gastro-mtestlnal tract. In E.J L Soulsby (Editor), Textbook of VeterlnaD' Cllmcal ParasRology I. Helmlnths. Blackwell, Oxford. p 63 Ugochukwu, E I and Ejxmadu, K.N., 1985 Studies on the prevalence ofgastro-mtestmal helmmths of dogs m Calabar, N~gerla Int J Zoonoses. 12- 214-218. Van Beeck, L, Henr), M C , Dorny, P and \a n Melr~enne. N , 1985 Pr6valence d'mfectlons fl To voplasma gond~t et To,~ocat a cart chez les chats de la zone urbame an\ ersolse. Ann Med Vet, 129 433-440 Vanpar|js, O F J and Th~enpont, D V, 1973 Canine and fehne helmlnth and protozoan mfecuons m Belgium. J. Paras~tol, 59' 327-330