Zoonotic intestinal parasites of carnivores: A systematic review in Iran

Vet World Vol.11 January-2018 Article-11

Research Article

Veterinary World, 11(1): 58-65

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.58-65

Shahabeddin Sarvi¹, Ahmad Daryani¹, Mehdi Sharif¹, Mohammad Taghi Rahimi², Mohammad Hasan Kohansal³, Siavash Mirshafiee⁴, Abolghasem Siyadatpanah⁵, Seyed-Abdollah Hosseini⁵, and Shirzad Gholami¹

1. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
2. Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
3. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.
4. Department of Husbandry, Qaemshahr branch of Islamic Azad University, Mazandaran, Iran.
5. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

Background and Aim: Parasitic infections, especially of the zoonotic-parasitic type, are the most important health, economic, and social problems in developing countries, including Iran. The aim of this study was to review systematically the available data on gastrointestinal parasites of carnivores in Iran and their ability to infect humans.

Materials and Methods: Studies reporting intestinal parasites of carnivores were systematically collected from nine electronic English and Persian databases and Proceedings of Iranian parasitology and veterinary congresses published between 1997 and 2015. A total of 26 studies issued from 1997 to 2015 met the eligibility criteria.

Results: The pooled proportion of intestinal parasites of carnivores was estimated as 80.4% (95% confidence interval=70.2-88.8%). The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in dogs, cats, foxes, and jackals were 57.89%, 90.62%, 89.17%, and 97.32%, respectively. Dipylidium caninum (20.45%), Toxocara spp. (18.81%), Taenia hydatigena (15.28%), Mesocestoides lineatus (11.83%), Echinococcus granulosus (10%), and Toxascaris leonina (8.69%) were the most frequently observed parasites.

Conclusion: High prevalence rates of zoonotic intestinal parasites of carnivores particularly Echinococcus spp. and Toxocara spp. increase the risk of acquiring zoonotic infections such as cystic hydatid, alveolar cysts, and visceral or ocular larva migrants in Iranian people. Therefore, it is essential for public health centers to develop more effective control strategies to decrease infections rates in carnivores' populations. Keywords: carnivores, intestinal parasites, zoonotic disease.

Keywords: carnivores, intestinal parasites, zoonotic disease.

How to cite this article: Sarvi S, Daryani A, Sharif M, Rahimi MT, Kohansal MH, Mirshafiee S, Siyadatpanah A, Hosseini S, Gholami S (2018) Zoonotic intestinal parasites of carnivores: A systematic review in Iran, Veterinary World, 11(1): 58-65.

Received: 06-09-2017 Accepted: 15-12-2017 Published online: 23-01-2018

Corresponding author: Shirzad Gholami E-mail: sgholami200@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2018.58-65

Copyright: Sarvi, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.