ِDiagnosis of Cryptosporidium infection in companion dogs in Kerman city

  Abstract   Cryptosporidium spp. is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes Cryptosporidiosis which associated with self- limiting to fetal diarrhea in animals and humans. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection in companion dogs in Kerman, Iran. Faecal samples were randomly collected from 350 companion dogs. Cryptosporidium oocysts were concentrated by using the formalin ether sedimentation method followed by the modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified in 1.1% (4/350) of the samples. Faeces were classified according to the consistency as diarrheic (34/350) and non diarrheic (316/350). Diarrhea was recorded in 2 of the positive samples (5.9%). Cryptosporidial prevalence was significantly higher in diarrheic (5/9%) versus non-diarrheic (0.6%) dogs (P0.05). Statistically there was no significant correlation between age, sex and breed of dogs with infection rate (P>0.05). This study confirmed that dogs have potential role in human Cryptosporidiosis and routine faecal examination in dogs with persistent diarrhea is important.