Medicine
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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
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Item Human health importance zoonotic gastrointestinal helminths and ectoparasites among stray dogs in Galle District, Sri Lanka(Department of Biosystems Engineering of the Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management Wayamba University, 2021) Rathnayaka, S.; Gunathilaka, N.; Udayanga, L.BACKGROUND: A notably high stray and semi domesticated dog population exist in close proximity to humans in Sri Lanka. However, the prevalence of gastrointestinal and ecto-parasites among these stray dog population has been limitedly studied. Therefore, the present investigation focused on zoonotic potential among stray dog community in Sri Lanka. METHODS: A total of 110 stray dogs randomly captured from the Galle District of Sri Lanka during May to July 2018 was considered for the study. Freshly voided fecal samples were obtained. Ectoparasites were collected using a lose comb and stored in an alcohol solution. Presence of major gastrointestinal and ectoparasitic species were investigated using standard microscopic methods. The Chi-square test of independence was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The highest egg count as Eggs per Gram (EPG) were detected from A. caninum (264.65 + 86.02 EPG), followed by T. canis (58.38 + 7.22 EPG) and E. vermicularis (22.70 + 5.70 EPG). Approximately one third of the stray dog population (29.1%; n= 32) indicated ectoparasitic infestations, dominated by Rhipicephalus sanguineus (40.9%; n=45), Ctenocephalides canis (23.6%; n=26) and Ixodes scapularis (19.1%; n=21). The results of the Chi-square test of independence denoted that there was a significant difference on the prevalence of helminthic parasites, among male and female stray dog populations (χ2= 15.19, df = 7, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed the potential risk on human health by intestinal helminthic and ectoparasites among stray dog populations. Hence, better understanding of such diseases and their control is essential.Item Intestinal and Ectoparasites of Human Health Importance among Stray Dogs in Galle District, Sri Lanka.(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Rathnayake, S.P.; Sudusinghe, H.P.; Nilaweera, T.H.W.T.; Marasinghe, M.A.P.; Sriyalatha, W.A.; Gunathilaka, P.A.D.H.N.Human-animal bond is a reciprocally favorable dynamic relationship which is beneficial to the health and well-being of both. Dogs have close contact with humans and play a pivotal role as definitive hosts or reservoirs for different zoonotic parasites, especially in developing countries. There are only few studies have focused on the zoonotic potential of animals in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the objective of the present study was the determine the intestinal and ectoparasites among dog population that may be important for human health. A total of 40 stray dogs captured for an animal welfare clinic conducted in Galle District of Sri Lanka was recruited for the study. Faecal samples were collected per rectal in to separate vials containing 10% formaldehyde. Ectoparasites of selected dogs were collected using a lose comb and stored in alcohol solution. The stool samples were processed by Kato-Katz techniques and intestinal parasitic stages were morphologically identified. For quantitative analysis, the modified McMaster technique was used to estimate eggs per gram of feces. The ectoparasites were characterized referring to morphological features. The results revealed eight intestinal parasites namely; Ancylostomacaninum (Prevalence: 66.75%; Eggs per gram: 362.82), Toxocaracanis (13.51%; 73.41), Enterobiusvermicularis (9.1%; 49.41), Trichurisvulpis (7.0%; 38.12), Physalopterarara (1.56%; 8.47), Paragonimuskellicotti (1.0% 5.65), Uncineriastenocephala (0.78%; 4.24) and Eucoleusaerophilus (0.26%; 1.41). The high prevalence rates of T. canis may cause visceral and ocular larva migrans to humans, which lead to blindness and A. caninum associated with hookworm related cutaneous larva migrans. Humans can be infected with T. vulpis when they accidentally ingest embryonated eggs, through contamination of infected soil, food or fomites even though it has been recorded as a rare infection. P. rara infection can be caused to humans by the accidental ingestion of arthropod hosts such as German cockroaches. In addition, the P. kellicotti, U. stenocephala, E. aerophilus and E. vermicularis may cause some health issues to humans. Even though present study did not indicate the presence of Echinococcusgranulosus which resides in the small bowel of dogs and other canids may lead to cause echinococcosis in humans. Argaspersicus (Prevalence; 34.18%) was the predominant among ectoparasites followed by Ctenocephalidescanis (32.91%) and Ixodesscapularis (32.91%). A. persicus can cause serious allergies on humans. The bites of I. scapularis may lead to cause human babesiosis (Babesiamicroti), human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE); and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The presence of C. canis may indicate the transmission potential of Dipylidiumcaninum to humans as an occasional host. Overall, the investigation indicated that stay dogs in Galle District contain a multitude of ectoand endoparasites, thus posing a risk for the human population.