Intestinal Parasites of Pets and Other House-kept Animals in Moscow.

A study screening pet animals (dogs, cats, chinchillas, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, primates, reptiles, and hedgehogs) within Moscow city limits for intestinal parasitic diseases has been conducted over a period of 6 years. According to the study, parasitic infections caused by intestinal protozoa are found in pet animals more frequently than by intestinal helminths. Although dogs and cats exhibit the highest level of diversity of intestinal parasite species, in the group of exotic animals, helminth infection are found much less frequently and parasitic fauna is represented mostly by intestinal protozoa with a high percentage of mixed infection. The most widespread helminth infeсtion of dogs and cats is toxocarosis (respectively 2.5 and 5.7 %) and the most widespread protozoan infection is sp. (9.8 and 4.6 %). sp. was found in 47.4 % of chinchillas, sp. was more frequently found in ferrets (6.55 %), protozoa from the family Trichomonadida was found in guinea pigs (9 %), sp. in rabbits (13.9 %), a in primates (15.7 %), and eggs from the genera (59 %), along with protozoa from the family Trichomonadida, in reptiles. sp. was most prevalent in hedgehogs (33.4 %). eggs, as well as protozoa from the and genera, were more frequently found in primates. Parasites common to animals and humans, which may become a source of infection for the latter under certain conditions, have been identified in pet animals.