Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Intestinal parasites and Giardia types in East Japan pet shop puppies
By Itoh, N et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2011·First Department of Small Animal Internal Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of intestinal parasites and genotyping of Giardia intestinalis in pet shop puppies in east Japan.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that about 23% of puppies from pet shops in east Japan had Giardia, a common intestinal parasite that can cause diarrhea, while 11% had another parasite called Cystoisospora. The puppies were all under three months old, and the researchers tested their feces to identify these parasites. Fortunately, the types of Giardia found were specific to dogs, meaning the risk of spreading it to humans is low. This information is helpful for pet owners to be aware of potential intestinal parasites when bringing home a new puppy.
People also search for: puppy diarrhea causes · Giardia treatment for dogs · intestinal parasites in puppies
Abstract
The current study examined the prevalence of intestinal parasites and genotypes of Giardia intestinalis in puppies from nine pet shops in east Japan. Fresh fecal samples from 1794 puppies (≦3 months old) were collected on one occasion. Giardia spp. was examined for specific coproantigen using ELISA kit (SNAP®Giardia, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., USA). Other intestinal parasites were detected microscopically using the formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation technique. Genotyping was determined for the random 29 stool samples identified as Giardia spp. positive using PCR and direct sequencing of the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) gene. Overall prevalence of protozoan Giardia spp. and Cystoisospora spp. revealed 23.4% and 11.3%, respectively. Prevalence of ascarids, Strongyloides spp. and hookworms were recorded 1.8%, 1.1% and 0.1%, respectively. Protozoan Giardia spp. and Cystoisospora spp., thus, represent important pathogens among pet shop puppies. All genotyped G. intestinalis isolates were belonged to assemblage C or D, identified as dog-specific genotypes. Zoonotic assemblage A and B were not demonstrated. The result suggests that the risk of zoonotic transmission of G. intestinalis from pet shops puppies to humans may be quite low in Japan.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21093154/