Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog in Hokkaido with diarrhea diagnosed with rare parasite infection
By Kida, Izumi et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2024·International Institute for Zoonosis Control, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Case report:infection in a dog showing gastrointestinal signs in Hokkaido, Japan.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old mixed-breed dog in Hokkaido, Japan, was brought in for chronic diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Tests revealed eggs from a parasite known to cause serious illness in humans, which is typically asymptomatic in dogs. After receiving an anthelmintic treatment (a type of medication that kills parasites), the dog's symptoms improved, and the diarrhea resolved. This case suggests that pet owners in areas where this parasite is common should consider it as a possible cause of diarrhea in their dogs.
People also search for: dog diarrhea treatment · gastrointestinal problems in dogs · parasite infection in dogs
Abstract
is a cestode that causes human alveolar echinococcosis, a lethal zoonotic disease distributed in the northern hemisphere. The life cycle of this parasite is maintained in nature by voles as intermediate hosts and foxes as definitive hosts in Hokkaido, Japan. Although dogs are also susceptible to the parasite, the infection has been considered typically asymptomatic. We report the detection ofeggs in the diarrheal feces of a dog with chronic gastrointestinal signs, which disappeared after anthelmintic treatment. The mitochondrial genome sequence constructed by sequencing of the overlapping PCRs using DNA from the eggs was identical to the most predominant haplotype previously reported in red foxes in Hokkaido. This case highlights thatinfection should be considered as a differential diagnosis for diarrheal dogs in the disease endemic areas. Further efforts are needed to accumulate parasite genotypes in domestic dogs as well as humans to assess the risk of human infection from dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39005724/