Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 21. (Budapest, 1988)
RESULTS The faecal examinations showed that 58.7% and 36.7% of the dogs and cats, respectively, were parasitized by intestinal helminths. Parasite eggs were demonstrated in 2*5% of the faecal samples collected in parks. The prevalence of helminthoses is summarized in Table l! In the dogs Trichuris vulpis (whipworm), whereas "in the cats T. mystax (roundworm) was the most prevalent intestinel helminth. The eggs of at least one helminth species occurred in 39. 1% of the 1674 faecal samples collected from dogs and in 22. 5% of the faecal samples collected in parks. Eggs of two or more helminth species were demonstrable in 19. 5% and 2. 5% of the above samples, respectively. a) Faecal examination in dogs The faecal examination of dogs derived from different places yielded the following results: among the stray dogs (i.e. those kept at pounds or dogs' homes) the proportion of positive animals was 74. 1%, among the service dogs it was 60. 7%, and among dogs treated at veterinary clinics it was 36.6%. From Table 2 it appears that the prevalence of each helminth species was the highest in the group of stray dogs (Group A). Table 2 also presents the summarized data of faecal examinations performed by us and by the Veterinary and Food Control Station of Budapest primarily at the time of dog vaccinations in 1983. Proper information concerning the age and sex of the dogs was primarily available for the dogs treated at veterinary clinics (n = 246), enabling us to study the prevalence of helminth infection by age groups (Table 3). Toxocara infection was the most prevalent in young dogs (a few months old). After the age of six months the prevalence of Toxocara infection markedly decreased and in dogs older than 8 years it did not occur at all. Toxascaris eggs most frequently occurred in dogs younger than a year and they were very rarely found in dogs older than two years. Infection by Taenia-type eggs showed a more uniform distribution in the various age groups, except for the youngest dogs which were free from such helminth eggs. Trichuris eggs were most frequently found in dogs older than 6 months. Eggs of worms belonging to the family Ancylostomatidae occurred sporadically, mainly in older dogs. Of the 246 dogs treated at the university clinic 93 were females and 153 were males. On the whole, 35. 3% and 37. 3% of the females and males, respectively, were parasitized by one or several helminth species. There was no marked difference between the two sexes in the prevalence of the various intestinal helminths,, either. In the group of dogs-treated at the clinic, the role of the breed in the type of infection was also examined. Toxocara eggs primarily occurred in German sheepdogs and hunting dogs, whereas Taenia-type eggs mainly in hunting dogs and mongrels. Due to the low number of samples other breeds could not be examined in this respect. The group of stray dogs (n= 185) mostly consisted of bitches aged a few months to several years, originating from Budapest and its environs. Almost 80% of the service dogs (n= 1243) had come from various regions of Hungary and had just arrived in Budapest or its vicinity for a training period of a few weeks. Most of these dogs were males. Their age ranged between 2 and 5 years, and none of them was younger than one year. Coprological examination of faecal samples collected from the ground in city parks revealed Toxocara canis , Toxascaris leonina , Trichuris vulpis, Taenia-type , Ancylostomatidae (hookworms) and Capillaria eggs. Dipylidium caninum infection was demonstrated by the flotation method and on the basis of the segments excreted. The results of the faecal examinations are shown in Table 4. Since larger sample sizes are better indicators of the actual prevalence, at the bottom of Table 4 the data of five parks are summarized in which more than 10 faecal samples were collected. The results show that 22. 5% of the dogs were infected by at least one helminth species. Four out of the 200 samples examined (2%) contained eggs of two helminth species as follows:
