PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PARASITES, INCLUDING CRYPTOSPORIDIUM-PARVUM,IN DOGS IN ZARAGOZA CITY, SPAIN

Faecal samples from 81 dogs aged between 2 months and 13 years were co llected in the small animal clinic (37 domestic dogs) and the animal s helter (44 stray dogs) located in the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences i n Zaragoza city (northeast Spain) and screened for the presence of Cry ptosporidium oocysts, Faeces were concentrated by the formalin-ethyl a cetate method and smears of the sediment were stained by using the mod ified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were det ected in six dogs (7.4%) aged from 2 months to 6 years. Infection was detected in both domestic (three) and stray (three) dogs and all of th em excreted few oocysts (0-1 oocyst per 20 x field). No statistically significant differences in prevalence occurred between dogs younger th an 6 months (11.8%) and the older dogs (6.2%). Prevalences were not si gnificantly different between domestic (8.1%) and stray dogs (6.8%). D iarrhoea was recorded in three of the positive dogs (50%), although ad ditional enteric parasites such as oocysts of Isospora spp. were also detected in their faeces. Nevertheless, prevalence was significantly h igher in diarrhoeic (30%) versus non-diarrhoeic (4.2%) dogs (P < 0.05) . Cryptosporidium was one of the parasites most frequently detected in the dogs surveyed.