Intestinal parasites and lungworms in stray, shelter and privately owned cats of Switzerland.

Zottler, Eva-Maria; Bieri, Monika; Basso, Walter Ubaldo; Schnyder, Manuela (2019). Intestinal parasites and lungworms in stray, shelter and privately owned cats of Switzerland. Parasitology international, 69, pp. 75-81. Elsevier 10.1016/j.parint.2018.12.005

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Endoparasitic infections represent relevant causes of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in cats. The aim of the study was to investigate the occurrence of endoparasites in Swiss cats in order to evaluate the risk of onset of parasitic diseases and potential correlated zoonoses. Therefore 664 faecal samples from privately owned (n = 299), shelter (n = 197) and stray (n = 168) cats were investigated by sedimentation-flotation and 468 samples additionally by the Baermann technique. Overall, 77.4% (n = 130), 21.8% (n = 43) and 11.7% (n = 35) of stray, shelter and privately owned cats, respectively, were positive, with significant differences between the groups. Among infected cats, 58.7% (n = 122) harboured a single, 30.8% (n = 64) two and 10.6% (n = 22) more than two parasite species. Toxocara cati, with an infection rate of 18.5% (n = 123), was the most frequently detected parasite. The rates for other intestinal parasites were: Taenia sp. 11.1% (n = 74), Isospora sp. 8.1% (n = 54), Capillaria sp. 4.7% (n = 31), hookworms 1.1% (n = 7), Giardia duodenalis 0.8% (n = 5), Dipylidium caninum 0.6% (n = 4), Toxoplasma gondii 0.6% (n = 4), Hammondia hammondi 0.5% (n = 3), Sarcocystis sp. 0.2% (n = 1) and Diphyllobothrium latum 0.2% (n = 1). First-stage larvae of the lungworm Aelurostrongylus abstrusus were found in 2.3% (n = 15) of all samples. The morphological identification of Taenia sp., T. gondii, H. hammondi and A. abstrusus was confirmed by molecular techniques. Overall, cats younger than one year and intact animals were more frequently infected with parasites than older and neutered animals. The observed infection rates were comparable to those from other European studies, except for Taenia sp. showing a significantly higher occurrence. This implicates that there is a persistent risk of environmental contamination with parasitic stages especially by stray cats, and a risk of infection for cat owners with potential zoonotic pathogens, emphasizing the need for appropriate parasite control measures.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Parasitology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)

UniBE Contributor:

Basso, Walter Ubaldo

Subjects:

600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)

ISSN:

1383-5769

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Walter Ubaldo Basso

Date Deposited:

31 May 2019 13:43

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:27

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.parint.2018.12.005

PubMed ID:

30552978

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus Environmental contamination Risk factors Taenia sp. Toxocara cati Toxoplasma gondii Zoonotic potential

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.128795

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/128795

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