Contamination of Dog Hair with Toxocara spp. Eggs in Kermanshah City and Associated Risk Factors

Canine intestinal parasitic infections that can be transmitted to humans are widespread. One of these infections is toxocariasis caused by Toxocara canis. The aim of this study was to investigate the contamination of the hairs of different dogs (domestic, herd, guard and stray) as a risk for transmission to humans.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on the 201 domestic, guards, herds, and stray dogs in Kermanshah to investigate the contamination of the hair. Hair washing method and also the Graham method was performed to detect infection with Toxocara species eggs

The results showed that 44.27% of the studied dogs were infected with Toxocara eggs by Graham method and 36.81% by hair washing method. In both methods, puppies under six months of age showed significantly more infection than dogs over six months old (p≤0.05), but the difference between males and females was not significant. Also, the rate of infection in domestic dogs was significantly lower than that of herding, guard and stray dogs (p≤0.05). Although there was no significant difference between hair washing method and Graham method in terms of infection rate, but in dogs with short hair, the amount of infection in Graham method was significantly higher than the hair washing method (p≤0.05).

According to the results of the present study, the infection of dogs in Kermanshah with Toxocara species is high. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of human infection, it is necessary to create preventive programs.