Abstract

Dog (Canis familiaris) is a domestic animal that maintains close contact with humans and other animals, such that any lack of diagnosis or treatment against certain diseases favours the transmission of zoonotic diseases. A study on gastrointestinal parasites of dogs was conducted from November, 2009 to April, 2010 with the objective of documenting the helminth biodiversity in dogs of Mekelle city. A coprological examination was conducted for a total of 146 dog faecal samples. Statistical tests were performed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 15.0 windows version. The faecal examination revealed the presence of nine helminth species with an overall prevalence of 73.3%: From all gastrointestinal parasites, the most commonly dominant parasites were Taenia spp. (41.1%) followed by Dipylidium caninum, (37.7%), Ancylostoma spp. (24%) and Toxocara canis (23.3%), whereas the prevalence of Toxascaris leonina, Spirocerca lupi, Mesocestoides lineatus, Echinococcus spp. and Taenia serrata were less than 10%. The highest eggs per gram (EPG) burden was observed for Taenia spp. (701.75 ± 2718.75) whereas the lowest parasite mean eggs per gram (EPG) burden was recorded for T. leonina, Echinococcus spp., S. lupi, T. serrata, and M. lineatus (0.00 ± 0.00). Concurrent infections with two or more parasite species were more common. None of the three variables (age, sex, and breed of the dogs) had shown significant difference (P > 0.05) in the degree of infestation with the helminthes parasites. Of these reported parasites, some of them have public health importance but dogs harboring the parasites are living freely and friendly with the public, and serve as a source of infection to community. Thus, there should be a practice of regular health management of dogs and further epidemiological studies should be conducted to investigate the rate of seasonal infection and the level of environmental contamination.

Key words: Burden, dog, faecal samples, gastrointestinal parasites, Mekelle, prevalence.