Survey of the Cryptosporidium infection among stray dogs in Ghazvin, Guilan and Mazandaran provinces

Cryptosporidiosis is a gastro-intestinal disease that cause diarrhea or even death in immunodeficient humans and animals. In this study, 85 stray dogs )52 male and 33 female) faecal samples were randomly collected directly from rectum ranging of with ages between 6-12 month. Cryptosporidium oocysts were concentrated by using the formalin ether sedimentation method followed by the modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. 1 out of 85 stool samples were positive for the presence of Cryptosporidium. The prevalence rate of cryptosporidiosis between stray dogs was 1.1%. The low outbreak of Cryptosporidium in stray dogs in the studied areas and the fact that dogs are mainly infected with C.canis unlike humans who are mostly infected with C.parvum and C.huminis indicate that the risk of transferring the disease from stray dogs to humans in this research isn’t high. However, due to the importance of this protozoa in immunocompromised humans, preventive measures should be paid attention.