Prevalence ofgastrointestinal helminths andmanagement practices fordogsinthe Greater Accraregionof Ghana
Date
2015-08
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Toxocariosisandancylostomosisremainthemostimportantparasiticinfections
affectingcompanionanimalsworldwideandposearisktoanimalandhuman
health.InformationontheseinfectionsindogsinGhanaisinadequate.Across
sectionalstudywasundertakentodeterminetheoccurrenceofgastrointestinal
helminthsinfectionsandmanagementpracticesofdogsintheGreaterAccra
Region(GAR)ofGhana.Faecalsampleswereobtainedfrom380dogsfrom
communitiesin11outof16districtsintheGAR.Coprologicalexaminationof
the sampleswasperformedusingthemodifiedMcMastertechnique.Management
practicesforcontrolofhelminthsindogswereassessedthroughquestionnaire
interviewsofthedogowners.Mostdogs(70.7%)werekeptforsecurityreasons
and werenothoused(61.8%).Prevalenceofgastrointestinalhelminthswas62.6%.
Hookwormeggswerefoundin178(46.8%)dogs, Toxocaracanis eggsin22(5.8%)andmixedinfectionsofhookwormsand T. canis in 38(10.0%).
Dipylidiumcaninum wasfoundin51(13.4%)dogs,whileIsosporaspecieswas
in 33(8.5%)dogs.Mosthouseholds(68%;133/194)ofthesampleddogshad
atleastachildbelowtheageof5years.Hookworm, T.canis and D. caninum
werethezoonoticgastrointestinalhelminthsprevalentindogsinthestudy
area.Lackofhousingfordogscreatesidealconditionsforinfectionandspread
of thezoonoticparasites.
Description
Keywords
Dogs, Gastrointestinalhelminths, GreaterAccraregion, Management practices, Ghana