Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 21. (Budapest, 1988)
3. Contamination of the environment with pathogenic microorganisms of intestinal or other origin; 4. Aversion of people to stray dogs and cats, traffic accidents caused by them, bites. The significance of zoonoses caused by stages developing from helminth eggs shed from the intestinal tract and by other parasites (e. g. protozoa) also renders it necessary to know the infection status of dogs and cats. In the Hungarian literature no faecal surveys aimed at determining the prevalence of intestinal helminths in dogs and cats have been reported. Certain authors reported on coprological examinations of dogs many years ago (RUSVAY, 1928; KOBULEJ, 1977). The latter author only reported data on Toxocara infection. No data have been published on faecal examinations aimed at determining the prevalence of helminths in cats either, except for the work of KÁVAI (1977), in which she described helminthological findings obtained at necropsy. The increasing number of dogs and cats kept in Hungary, the lack of data on their helminthic infection, and the risk of zoonoses associated with intestinal helminths prompted us to perform the studies presented here. Table 3. Prevalence of intestinal helminthoses (%) in various age groups of dogs treated at clinics of the University of Veterinary Science Eggs 3 month 3-6 month 1/2-1 year 1-2 year 2-3 year 3-5 year 5-8 year 8 year n= 17 n= 21 n= 31 n= 34 n= 25 n= 42 n= 35 n= 41 Trichuris vulpis 5. 9 23. 8 35. 5 26. 5 20 28. 6 28. 6 14. 6 Ancylostomatidae 9. 5 4 4. 8 8. 6 2. 4 Toxocara canis 35. 3 28. 6 6. 5 2.9 4 2.4 8. 6 Toxascaris leonina 5. 9 4. 8 6. 5 2. 9 _ _ 2. 9 _ Capillaria spp. - . Taenia-type 4. 8 3. 2 4 9. 5 2. 9 4. 9 Dipylidium caninum 2. 4 Oocysts 5. 9 4. 8 2. 9 2. 4 2. 9 MATÉRIÁID AND METHODS For data collection purposes, faecal samples taken from 1674 dogs and 150 cats, and 200 dog faeces samples collected from the ground in Budapest parks, were examined by the flotation method. Three concentrating fluids were used: Breza's combined concentrating fluid (3 parts of concentrated MgS0 4 + 3 parts of concentrated Na 2 S 2 0 3 + 1 part of water; density: 1. 3 g/ml), the so-called "Flotol" concentrating fluid (concentrated MgS0 4 containing 2% K 2 Cr 2 0 7 ; density: 1. 325 g/ml), and concentrated K 2 COg solution (density: 1.45 g/ml). The samples were processed simultaneously with two concentrating fluids in the following combinations: Breza-
