Prevalência da infecção por Giardia sp. em cães do município de Porto Alegre-RS, comparação entre duas populações: cães de rua e cães com proprietário provenientes de áreas de vulnerabilidade social

Resumo (EN)

Objective – To finding out the prevalence of infection by Giardia sp. in the population of dogs with owner in areas of the periphery of the city of Porto Alegre, compared with the prevalence of street dogs, kennel collected. Methods – The analysis was done on samples of feces using the 33% zinc sulfate centrifugal flotation method which is a technique of Faust et al. The prevalence of street dogs was compared with the ones with owner and the relevance of variables such as age, sex, coexistence with other animals at home, access to public roads and the hygiene of the place where the dogs live was assessed regarding the risk of infection by this parasite. Four hundred fifty four samples of feces were examined. Results – The prevalence found was of 18.50%. No significant statistical difference between the results of dogs with owner 20% (47/235) and street dogs 16.89% (37/219) was identified. In the analysis of the variables it was observed greater prevalence among dogs with less than 12 months old (32.56% – 32/98) than the one found in dogs with 12 months old or more (14.60% – 52/356). Regarding sex, it was not identified significant difference in prevalence. Conclusions – In the assessment of environmental and handling variables, only the condition of hygiene was identified as a risk factor for infection by the parasite analyzed.