Giardiasis in dogs and cats in the Belgrade area

Abstract

Giardia infection is an ongoing problem in Serbia, since 8.0% of the children in the Belgrade area are infected. In the light of the zoonotic potential of Giardia infection, a total of 248 companion animals (167 dogs and 81 cats) were examined for giardiasis in the same urban area. The overall rates of infection in dogs and cats were 14.4% (24/167) and 22.2 % (18/81), respectively. Significantly (p lt 0.05, p lt 0.01) higher infection rates were found in stray (18.7%) and farm (36.4%.) dogs than in household pets (7.4%.). Furthermore, the rate of infection was significantly (p lt 0.01) higher in domestic cats than in household dogs (22.2% vs. 7.4%). The owners and all 16 of their family members of five out of the six household pet dogs excreting Giardia were Giardia-negative, while both the owner of one dog and the only other family member were Giardia-positive. The data demonstrate that potential animal reservoirs (dogs and cats) exist in urban Serbia and underline the possibility of transmission between dog and man in close contact, thus having important implications for the epidemiology of giardiasis in urban areas.