Prevalence and diversity of zoonotic intestinal parasites in household dogs in urban areas of the Colombian Caribbean.

Dogs offer multiple benefits in their relationship with humans, but they can also be carriers of zoonotic parasites that affect human and animal health. Zoonoses account for about 58% of all human infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to assess intestinal parasitism in dogs with owners in the City of Barranquilla in the years 2016 to 2018. A retrospective descriptive study was carried out that included 3,279 reports of parasitological evaluation of feces from a clinical laboratory that serves a network of veterinary services in the city of Barranquilla. 49.2 % of the dogs had some type of intestinal parasite. The most frequent were helminths: Strongyloides sp. 9.6 %, Toxocara canis 7.7 % and Ancylostoma caninum 6.2 %; and the protozoa: Entamoeba spp. 10.0 %, Isospora spp. 6.9 % and Giardia spp. 5.7 %. The Principal Component Analysis of the parasite profiles by year showed significant differences. The presence of zoonotically transmitted intestinal parasites in dogs evidenced the need to establish corrective and preventive measures in the field of public health that allow their control, since they constitute a significant risk of disease in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]