Detection and identification of gastrointestinal parasites in dogs presented to veterinary clinics in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria

Gastrointestinal parasites of dogs have been incriminated in cases of morbidity and mortality; hence, this study was undertaken to investigate the presence and distribution of gastrointestinal parasites in dogs presented to different veterinary clinics in Abeokuta, Ogun State. One hundred and twenty faecal samples were collected between February to September 2018 from three different veterinary clinics into universal sample bottles that were properly labeled with the age, sex and breed. Samples were processed with Mini-FLOTAC® kit using salt and sugar solution at a specific gravity of 1.3. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Chi square test was used to determine the association between variables. Of the 120 dogs screened, 37(30.8%) were positive for one or more gastrointestinal helminths: males had a prevalence of 24(20%) while females had a prevalence of 13(10.8%). Prevalence of 29(24.1%) and 8(6.7%) was reported in young and adult dogs respectively. Of the different breeds of dogs sampled; the Nigerian local breed had the highest prevalence 21(17.5%) of gastrointestinal helminths, followed by German shepherd 8(6.7%), Rottweiller 5(4.2%), Boerboel 1(0.8%) Samoyed 1(0.8%) and Pitbull 1(0.8%). A statistically significant association (p<0.05) was recorded between gastrointestinal helminth infection and breed while no statistically significant association (p>0.05) was observed between age, sex and gastrointestinal helminth infection. Six different genera of helminths were recorded in this study: Ancylostoma caninum (17.5%), Toxocara canis (14.1%), Toxascaris leonina (2.5%), Dipylidium caninum (2.5%), Trichuris vulpis (1.7%) and Taenia spp (1.7%). The findings from this study indicated moderate prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infection. The presence of Ancylostoma caninum, Toxocara canis and Dipylidium caninum infection in this study raises concern about the zoonotic potential of these parasites due to the close relationship between man and dogs.