Abstract

Several developments have been recently achieved to understand pet-dog parasites and their relationship with hosts; however, parasites' presence and distribution in shepherd-dog have been mainly neglected; this knowledge gap is of critical sanitary importance, as shepherd-dogs could harbor zoonotic helminths includingEchinococcus granulosus sensu lato. The related human disease, cystic echinococcosis, is a worldwide neglected disease, with high endemicity in the Mediterranean Basin. To evaluate the presence ofE. granulosusand other parasites, a sheep-dog population from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy) has been investigated. Overall, 648 dog fecal samples obtained from 50 modern sheep farms, having a total of 216 dogs, were collected. Specimens were analyzed using a standardized centrifugal flotation method (specific gravity = 1.3). Taeniid eggs detected were further isolated using a sieving/flotation technique. DNA was isolated from eggs for PCR and sequence analyses for species identification (gene target: 12S rRNA andnad1). Thirty-nine (78%) farms tested positive for at least one parasite species or genus. The most represented intestinal helminths wereToxocaraspp. in 64% of farms, followed by Ancylostomatidae (58%),Trichuris vulpis(50%),Capillariaspp. (34%), and taeniids (32%). Sequence analyses confirmed the presence ofTaenia hydatigenain seven farms,Taenia(syn.Multiceps)multicepsin five farms, andT. pisiformisin one farm. No DNA was extracted from four previously taeniid egg-positive farms. No amplification of amplicon corresponding toE. granulosuswas achieved in the investigated farms. Although not entirely expected, Spearman's test showed a positive correlation between flock size and the number of dogs per farm (rho = 0.588,P 0.001). The quantitative analysis reported that the home slaughter practice was affected neither by the flock size nor by the number of dogs per farm. The probability to diagnose farms positive for taeniids had been increased by about 35% for each dog unit increase [odds ratio (OR) = 1.35,P= 0.012]. In conclusion, the wide distribution ofT. hydatigenaandT. multicepsdetected in the present study clearly reveals that dogs have still access to raw offal, a major risk for the transmission ofE. granulosus. Home slaughtering is an unavoidable practice, and more efforts must be undertaken by the public health system to prevent and control potential zoonotic taeniids.