PREVALENCE OF CANINE PARASITES BASED ON FECAL FLOTATION

Veterinarians and parasitologists must be aware of the prevalences of parasites in their regions in order to develop and implement effective diagnostic and control strategies for canine parasites and parasitic diseases. This article reports on the results of a national survey in which fecal specimens colleted in a consistent manner from dogs housed in animal shelters throughout the United States were examined for par asites via a sensitive fecal flotation procedure. The results indicate that intestinal nematode and coccidial parasites remain common in dog s in the United States, particularly those that have not received regu lar veterinary care. Certain parasites that are important as disease a gents in dogs or as potential disease agents in humans were common thr oughout the United States. Based on the results of this survey, the li kelihood that untreated dogs harbor at least one of these major intest inal parasites is high. There is growing concern about human infection with canine parasites, particularly Ancylostoma species and T. canis. The high prevalence of these parasites recorded in this study indicat es a need to continually monitor dogs for parasites of zoonotic signif icance and, if necessary, to treat periodically to remove the parasite s.