Global Prevalence Estimates of <i>Toxascaris leonina</i> Infection in Dogs and Cats
Ali Rostami,
Seyed Mohammad Riahi,
Vahid Fallah Omrani,
Tao Wang,
Andreas Hofmann,
Aliyar Mirzapour,
Masoud Foroutan,
Yadolah Fakhri,
Calum N. L. Macpherson,
Robin B. Gasser
Affiliations
Ali Rostami
Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Riahi
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
Vahid Fallah Omrani
Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Tao Wang
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Andreas Hofmann
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Aliyar Mirzapour
Innovative Medical Research Center, Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
Masoud Foroutan
Department of Parasitology, Abadan Faculty of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran
Yadolah Fakhri
Food Health Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
Calum N. L. Macpherson
School of Graduate Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George’s University, WINDREF, Grenada, West Indies
Robin B. Gasser
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Toxascaris leonina is an ascaridoid nematode of dogs and cats; this parasite affects the health of these animals. This study estimated the global prevalence of Ta. leonina infection in dogs and cats using random effects meta-analysis as well as subgroup, meta-regression and heterogeneity analyses. The data were stratified according to geographical region, the type of dogs and cats and environmental variables. A quantitative analysis of 135 published studies, involving 119,317 dogs and 25,364 cats, estimated prevalence rates of Ta. leonina in dogs and cats at 2.9% and 3.4%, respectively. Prevalence was highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region (7.2% for dogs and 10.0% for cats) and was significantly higher in stray dogs (7.0% vs. 1.5%) and stray cats (7.5% vs. 1.8%) than in pets. The findings indicate that, worldwide, ~26 million dogs and ~23 million cats are infected with Ta. leonina; these animals would shed substantial numbers of Ta. leonina eggs into the environment each year and might represent reservoirs of infection to other accidental or paratenic hosts. It is important that populations of dogs and cats as well as other canids and felids be monitored and dewormed for Ta. leonina and (other) zoonotic helminths.
