Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Intestinal Trichomonads in Pet Dogs in East China.

Abstract

The trichomonad speciesandwere recently detected in the feces of dogs with diarrhea. However, little information is available on the prevalence and pathogenicity of these parasites in the canine population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and molecular characterization of trichomonads infecting pet dogs in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, east China. In total, 315 pet dogs, with or without diarrhea, from 7 pet hospitals were included in this epidemiological survey. Microscopy and PCR detectedin 19.7% (62/315) and 31.4% (99/315) of fecal samples, respectively.infection was detected in 0% (0/315) of samples with microscopy and in 0.6% (2/315) with PCR. The prevalence ofwas significantly higher in young dogs (&#x2264;12 months) than in adult dogs (>12 months), and was significantly higher in diarrheic dogs (50.6%) than in non-diarrheic dogs (24.3%;<0.05). Infection withdid not correlate with any risk factors evaluated in this study. A sequence analysis of thePCR products showed minor allelic variations between our sequences and those ofstrains from other hosts in different parts of the world. Type CC1 was the most common strain in dogs in east China. The internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-5.8S rRNA gene sequences from the 2isolates detected in this study displayed 100% identity and were homologous to the sequences of other strains isolated from domestic cats in other countries.