A retrospective study of Uncinaria stenocephala in domestic dogs: Age, sex distribution, and risk factors

Vet World Vol.14 January-2021 Article-34

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(1): 265-269

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.265-269

Michail Yur'iyevich Shchelkanov^1,2,3, Tatyana Vladimirovna Tabakaeva^1,2, Pavel Vasilevich Fomenko⁴, Ekaterina Michailovna Kim¹, Anton Vadimovich Tabakaev¹, and Irina Vyacheslavovna Galkina¹

1. Far Eastern Federal University, School of Biomedicine, Vladivostok, Russia.
2. Federal Scientific Center of Terrestrial Biodiversity of Eastern Asia, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Stoletiya Vladivostoku, 159/1, Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
3. National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Palchevskogo, 17, Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
4. Amur Branch of Russian Department of World Wide Fund, Verkhneportovaya, 18A, Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.

Background and Aim: Uncinaria infection often appears in domestic dogs. In the present study, parasitological examination of fecal samples from 782 dogs were analyzed for the presence of Uncinaria stenocephala.

Materials and Methods: Fecal samples were analyzed by means of a standardized flotation method using a saturated salt solution containing NaNO3 (specific gravity 1.38), with a centrifugation step.

Results: The highest prevalence rates were found among young adult dogs (8.3%), followed by puppies (5.4%); the lowest prevalence rates were found in dogs older than 3 years (4.3%). The prevalence was 5.8% among female dogs and 7.2% in male dogs. Coinfections with roundworms and protozoan parasites were frequently observed in U. stenocephala-positive dogs (15%). In total, three types of coinfections were registered. Coinfection of U. stenocephala + Sarcocystids oocysts was recorded in 19.1% of the dogs (n=10). This may relate to higher prevalence of S. oocysts in dogs (n=153; 19.5%). There were two cases of coinfection of U. stenocephala + Toxocara canis (3.9%), which may relate to low prevalence of T. canis (3.9 %). One case of coinfection of Dipylidium caninum + U. stenocephala (0.1%) also appeared.

Conclusion: The present study showed that male dogs and young dogs were most susceptible to U. stenocephala infection. Keywords: canine hookworm, dogs, infection, Uncinaria stenocephala.

Keywords: canine hookworm, dogs, infection, Uncinaria stenocephala.

How to cite this article: Shchelkanov MYu, Tabakaea TV, Fomenko PV, Kim EM, Tabakaev AV, Galkina IV (2021) A retrospective study of Uncinaria stenocephala in domestic dogs: Age, sex distribution, and risk factors, Veterinary World, 14(1): 265-269.

Received: 23-07-2020 Accepted: 01-12-2020 Published online: 29-01-2021

Corresponding author: Tatyana Vladimirovna Tabakaeva E-mail: rabchan1992@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.265-269

Copyright: Shchelkanov MYu, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.