Prevalence of parasites in feces of dogs of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico

The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of parasites and identify the ones with the zoonotic potential present in the feces of households dogs and stray dogs in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. Fifty fecal samples from household dogs and 50 fecal samples from stray dogs were collected and analyzed by sucrose flotation and McMaster techniques. The statistical analyzes showed a significant difference between households and stray dogs (p= 0.021). The highest prevalence was obtained by stray dogs with 22% (11/50), while household dogs got a majority of 6% (3/50). The parasites of morphologically identified household dogs corresponded to Cystoisospora canis (6%) and Trichuris vulpis (4%), while in stray dogs parasites corresponded to Ancylostoma spp. (12%), Cystoisospora canis (10%), Toxocara spp. (4%), Trichuris vulpis (4%), and Taenia spp. (2%). The Chi-square (X2) analysis showed that the prevalence of parasites in stray dogs according to age presented a significant difference (p= 0.002); 100% of the puppies were parasitized. In Gomez Palacio, parasites with zoonotic potential are present in the feces of households and stray dogs, representing a risk of infection for the human population.