A five-year retrospective study on ascarid infections in dogs in southern Italy.

INTRODUCTION: A 5-year retrospective analysis of ascarid infections (Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina) in dogs from southern Italy was performed to update the epidemiological scenario of these parasites and to identify the risk factors which may favour these infections in animals in this study area. A total of 8,149 dogs, referred to our labs for copromicroscopic analysis using the FLOTAC technique, was considered. A sub-sample of 500 faecal samples were analysed also with the Mini-FLOTAC technique. Of the overall dog samples analysed, 9,2 % (95 % CI = 8,6-9,8) resulted positive for T. canis while 0,5 % (95 % CI = 0,4-0,7) resulted positive for T. leonina. Co-infections with T. canis and T. leonina were found in 0,1 % of dogs (95 % CI = 0,0-0,1). The results obtained by the FLOTAC and Mini-FLOTAC examinations showed a nearly perfect k agreement (k = 0,99, P < 0,001) between these two techniques. Chi-square test showed positivity to T. canis and T. leonina significantly (P < 0,001) associated with dogs housed outdoor (i.e., that lived in garden or in kennel). Moreover, the positivity for T. canis was significantly associated (P < 0,001) also with age (i.e., puppies), as shown by the logistic regression. The decreasing overall prevalence both for T. canis and T. leonina during the years of monitoring, showed that, as suggested by the European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasites, the regular diagnosis could contribute to an efficient control of these parasites.

INTRODUCTION: Une analyse rétrospective sur 5 ans des infections à ascaris (Toxocara canis et Toxascaris leonina) chez les chiens du sud de l'Italie a été réalisée afin de mettre à jour le scénario épidémiologique de ces parasites et d'identifier les facteurs de risque pouvant favoriser ces infections chez les animaux de cette zone d'étude. Au total, 8149 chiens ont été analysés dans notre laboratoire avec une analyse copromicroscopique en utilisant la technique FLOTAC. De plus, un sous-échantillon de 500 échantillons fécaux a été analysé avec la technique Mini-FLOTAC. Sur l'ensemble des échantillons fécaux canins analysés, 9,2 % (IC à 95 % = 8,6 à 9,8) se sont révélés positifs pour T. canis tandis que 0,5 % (IC à 95 % = 0,4 à 0,7) ont été positifs pour T. leonina. Des co-infections avec T. canis et T. leonina ont été trouvées chez 0,1 % des chiens (IC à 95 % = 0,0­0,1). Les résultats obtenus par les examens FLOTAC et Mini-FLOTAC ont montré un coefficient Kappa presque parfait (k = 0,99, p < 0,001) entre ces deux techniques. Le test du chi carré a montré une positivité significative quant aux infections à T. canis et T. leonina (P < 0,001) associées à des chiens hébergés à l'extérieur (jardin ou chenil). De plus, la positivité pour T. canis était également significativement associée (P < 0,001) à l'âge (c'est-à-dire aux chiots), comme le montre la régression logistique. La diminution de la prévalence globale au cours de la période de surveillance a montré que le diagnostic régulier pourrait contribuer à un contrôle efficace de ces parasites à la fois pour T. canis et T. leonina, comme suggéré par le the European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasites.

Ascarid infection in wild Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in China.

BACKGROUND: Wild Amur tigers are a sparsely populated species, and the conservation of this species is of great concern worldwide, but as an important health risk factor, parasite infection in them is not fully understanding. RESULTS: In this study, sixty-two faecal samples were collected to investigate the frequency and infection intensity of Toxocara cati and Toxascaris leonina in wild Amur tigers. The T. cati and T. leonina eggs were preliminary identified by microscopy, and confirmed by molecular techniques. Infection intensity was determined by the modified McMaster technique. Phylogenetic trees demonstrated that T. cati of wild Amur tiger had a closer relationship with which of other wild felines than that of domestic cats. T. leonina of Amur tiger and other felines clustered into one clade, showing a closer relationship than canines. The average frequency of T. cati was 77.42% (48/62), and the frequency in 2016 (100%) were higher than those in 2013 (P = 0.051, < 0.1; 66.6%) and 2014 (P = 0.079, < 0.1; 72.2%). The infection intensity of T. cati ranged from 316.6 n/g to 1084.1 n/g. For T. leonina, only three samples presented eggs when the saturated sodium chloride floating method was performed, indicating that the frequency is 4.83% (3/62). Unfortunately, the egg number in faecal smears is lower than the detective limitation, so the infection intensity of T. leonina is missed. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that ascarids are broadly prevalent, and T. cati is a dominant parasite species in the wild Amur tiger population.

Ascarid infestation in captive Siberian tigers in China.

The Siberian tiger is endangered and is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature; the captive environment is utilized to maintain Siberian tiger numbers. Little information regarding the prevalence of parasites in Siberian tigers is available. A total of 277 fecal samples of Siberian tigers were analyzed in this study. The microscopic analysis indicated the presence of ascarid eggs of Toxascaris leonina and Toxocara cati. The ascarid infection rate was 67.5% in Siberian tigers. The internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS-1) phylogenetic analysis indicated that T. leonina belonged to Toxascaris and that Toxo. cati belonged to Toxocara. The infestation rate and intensity of T. leonina were higher than those of Toxo. cati. One-way analysis of variance showed that the presence of T. leonina was significantly associated with age (P<0.05). Temperature changes also influenced T. leonina and Toxo. cati infestation, and a rise in temperature caused an increase in the number of T. leonina and Toxo. cati eggs. This study provides a better understanding of ascarid infestation among the captive Siberian tigers and is helpful for the prevention of the spread of infectious parasitic diseases among other tigers in the zoo.

Seropositivity of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara spp. in Children with Cryptogenic Epilepsy, Benha, Egypt.

The present study aimed to investigate the possible association of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara spp. infections with cryptogenic epilepsy in children. The study was carried out between June 2014 and March 2015. Total 90 children (40 with cryptogenic epilepsy, 30 with non-cryptogenic epilepsy, and 20 healthy control children) were evaluated to determine the anti-Toxocara and anti-T. gondii IgG seropositivity using ELISA kits. Epileptic cases were selected from those attending the pediatrics outpatient clinic of Benha University Hospital, Pediatrics Neurology Unit, and from Benha Specialized Hospital of children. The results showed that the level of anti-T. gondii IgG seropositivity was significantly higher among children with cryptogenic epilepsy (20%) than among children with non-cryptogenic children (0%). In healthy controls (10%), there was no association between toxocariasis seropositivity and cryptogenic epilepsy (only 5.7%; 4 out of 70 cases) among cases and 10% (2 out of 20) among controls. Among toxocariasis IgG positive cases, 3 (7.5%) were cryptogenic, and only 1 (3.3%) was non-cryptogenic. These statistically significant results support the association between T. gondii infection and cryptogenic epilepsy while deny this association with toxocariasis.

Seroprevalence of human Toxocara infections in the Roma and non-Roma populations of Eastern Slovakia: a cross-sectional study.

Socioeconomic conditions and health of the Roma population, the most numerous minority in Europe, are worse than that of the non-Roma population. Information about the occurrence of human toxocarosis and other parasitic diseases in the Roma population is scarce or completely missing. The aim of this study was to map the seroprevalence of toxocarosis in the population living in segregated Roma settlements and to compare the data with the occurrence of antibodies in the non-Roma population of Eastern Slovakia. The seropositivity to Toxocara in 429 examined Roma inhabitants of segregated settlements reached 22·1%, while only 4/394 samples of the non-Roma population were found to be positive (odds ratio 27·7, P < 0·0001). Headache, muscle pain, influenza-like symptoms and diarrhoea occurred significantly more often in seropositive persons than in seronegative individuals. In the Roma population positivity was not influenced by gender, level of education and poverty, but age, lack of sanitary facilities and heating with wood significantly increased the risk of infection. It can be assumed that besides the high prevalence of toxocarosis, other parasitic diseases and communicable diseases will also be more prevalent in the Roma population living in segregated settlements.

Sequence variation in mitochondrial cox1 and nad1 genes of ascaridoid nematodes in cats and dogs from Iran.

The study was conducted to determine the sequence variation in two mitochondrial genes, namely cytochrome c oxidase 1 (pcox1) and NADH dehydrogenase 1 (pnad1) within and among isolates of Toxocara cati, Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina. Genomic DNA was extracted from 32 isolates of T. cati, 9 isolates of T. canis and 19 isolates of T. leonina collected from cats and dogs in different geographical areas of Iran. Mitochondrial genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. Sequence data were aligned using the BioEdit software and compared with published sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods. Based on pairwise comparison, intra-species genetic diversity within Iranian isolates of T. cati, T. canis and T. leonina amounted to 0-2.3%, 0-1.3% and 0-1.0% for pcox1 and 0-2.0%, 0-1.7% and 0-2.6% for pnad1, respectively. Inter-species sequence variation among the three ascaridoid nematodes was significantly higher, being 9.5-16.6% for pcox1 and 11.9-26.7% for pnad1. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the pcox1 and pnad1 genes indicated that there is significant genetic diversity within and among isolates of T. cati, T. canis and T. leonina from different areas of Iran, and these genes can be used for studying genetic variation of ascaridoid nematodes.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara infection in children and environmental contamination of urban areas in Paraná State, Brazil.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the contamination by eggs of Toxocara in sandy areas or grass lawns of outdoor recreation areas that are used by children, and the frequency of seroprevalence in children, from three cities of fewer than 45,000 inhabitants in Paraná, Brazil. From May 2005 to December 2007, five samples were taken from each of 13 sandy sites and 18 grass lawns, all from plazas and public schools. Blood samples from children aged 0-12 years were analysed by immunoassay for anti-Toxocara IgG. The soil samples were processed by floatation and sedimentation. Eggs of Toxocara spp. were present in 44.7% (38/85) of the samples from grassed areas and in 21.4% (15/70) of the sand samples. The lawns were 2.16 times more contaminated than the sand (P = 0.0009). However, the epidemiological variables showed no statistically significant difference between seropositive (36.8%; 130/353), and seronegative children. The rate of seropositivity was higher in children aged 0-5 years (P = 0.03), who were 1.94 times more likely to develop persistent wheezing (P = 0.02).

Statistical methods for geographical surveillance in veterinary epidemiology.

Spatial clustering and cluster detection are statistical analysis developed to address relevant scientific hypothesis. The difficulty stays in the large number of alternative hypothesis due to the different mechanisms that could generate the anomalous cases aggregation. We review methods for marked point data (case/control) aimed to describe spatial intensity of disease risk, to test for randomness and to locate significant excesses. Bayesian Gaussian Spatial Exponential models are used to illustrate probabilistic aspects and the link with simpler non parametric tools are shown. We develop an informal guideline to the analysis and used data on faecal contamination and dog parasitic diseases in the city of Naples, Italy. Kernel density estimation resulted very sensitive to bandwidth choice and overemphasized localized excess, Ripley'K function and Cuzick-Edwards test were very consistent each other while the SatScan failed to detect excesses. The spatial range was around 600 meters and justifies several small clusters. Bayesian models were very powerful in reconstructing the phenomenon and allow inference on model parameters in good agreement with the non parametric analysis.

Epidemiology of Toxascaris leonina infection post-weaning within a colony of dogs.

This communication reports incidental observations on Toxascaris leonina infections in a beagle breeding colony. Regular faecal monitoring demonstrated that T. leonina was endemic in the adult dam population within this colony. Small numbers of T. leonina eggs were also detected in the faeces of weaned pups from eight weeks of age possibly produced by a patent infection. This would mean a pre-patent period for T. leonina of 56 days or less. Worm counts on 10 pups showed that 60% of pups had acquired a T. leonina infection by 12 weeks of age. Since prenatal and lactogenic transmission do not occur and as the pups were kept in an environment which reduced chances of infection with T. leonina and there was no apparent source of paratenic hosts, the source of infection must have been embryonated T. leonina eggs from the whelping environment. These observations on T. leonina demonstrate that, if pups are exposed to an infected environment, patent infections may be seen in a younger age group than is normally associated with T. leonina infections.

Prevalence of intestinal nematodes of dogs and cats in The Netherlands.

Faecal samples from 272 dogs and 236 cats from Dutch households were examined for nematode eggs. Toxocara eggs were found in 8 dogs (2.9%) and 11 cats (4.7%). Toxascaris eggs were found in 1 dog (0.4%) and Trichuris eggs in 2 dogs (0.7%). Examination of faeces from 56 stray cats revealed Toxocara in 12 cases (21%) and Toxascaris eggs in 3 cases (5.4%). No hookworm eggs were found. The percentage of positive samples was significantly higher in young animals than in older animals. Toxocara eggs were found significantly more frequently in stray cats than in cats kept in households.