Abstract
Domestic dogs and cats can serve as a source of environmental contamination with Toxocara spp. and Blastocystis spp., and this represents a neglected public and veterinary health problem. We assessed the microscopic and molecular prevalence of these species in a locality in Algeria and identified the associated risk factors. The faeces of 225 dogs and 78 cats were collected in Mitidja between March and July 2022. The samples were analysed by coproscopy and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) and Small Subunit Ribosomal (SSU-RNA) of T. canis and Blastocystis spp. respectively. The overall microscopic prevalence of Toxocara spp. in dogs and cats was 9.78 ± 1.98% and 12.82 ± 7.42%, respectively. The rate of Blastocystis spp. was 15.11 ± 2.39% and 15.38 ± 4.08% in dogs and cats, respectively while the molecular prevalence of T. canis in dogs was 4.89 ± 1.44% and in cats 1.28 ± 1.27%; the prevalence of Blastocystis spp. was 41.78 ± 3.29% and 34.62 ± 5.39% in dogs and cats, respectively. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses identified the presence of the H1 subtype of T. canis in dogs, and the ST1 subtype of Blastocystis in dogs and cats. Dogs with clinical signs were more likely to be infected with T. canis (OR 6.039, P < 0.05) than healthy dogs. This study demonstrates that dogs and cats are carriers of Toxocara spp. and Blastocystis spp. and are therefore a source of environmental contamination. Veterinarians and human health professionals should work together to implement control strategies as part of a “One Health” approach to improving animal health and reducing the risk of transmission to humans.
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All data are available on NCBI PP134995.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully thank Professor William Weir, Academic Head of Infectious Disease, Veterinary Diagnostic Service School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, for reviewing the manuscript in English. We thank Dr Bentarcha A. and Dr Bouzouad Y. for their help in collecting faeces and for allowing us to work with their dog and cat clients. We would also like to thank the owners who made their animals available for faecal sampling. We thank Miss Embarek A., Miss Cheboubi S., and Miss Issa Galmai Z. for their technical assistance.
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IH: conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, writing-original draft. AG: investigation and visualisation. AB: data analysis, writing. BM: statistical analysis, writing- reviewing and editing. FS: validation and visualisation. TK: designed, reviewing and editing. HZ: conceptualisation, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, software, supervision and writing-review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The animal study was reviewed and approved by The Ethics Committee of the Directorate of Veterinary Services. Written informed consent for participation was not obtained from the owners; veterinary practices provided faecal samples. No animal handling was undertaken in the course of this study.
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Haleche, I., Guilane, A., Boutellis, A. et al. Microscopic and molecular prevalence and associated risk factors with Toxocara and Blastocystis infection in dogs and cats in Mitidja, Algeria. Parasitol Res 123, 216 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08240-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08240-y