June 3^rd, 2009

Garcia N., Gonzalo B., Ochoa P., Gonzalez P., Gil N., Martinez I., Alvarez J. and Goyache J.

Poster communication in 5ª Reunión Cientí­fica Anual de Investigación de las Zoonosis en Europa

Number of pets has increased in the last years in many developed countries. On the other hand, uncontrolled population of stray dogs living close to human in urban environments is also a common issue in developing countries. Several dog intestinal parasites are zoonotic, and therefore its control becomes both an Animal and Public Health issue. Among them, Giardia lamblia (causative agent of canine giardiasis) is a pathogen commonly found in dogs, especially in certain situations, with reported prevalences of up to 100% in kenneled animals (1). In addition, certain assemblages of G. lamblia are pathogenic for humans, and therefore infected dogs could represent a potential source of infection (2). Detection of Giardia cysts or trophozoites by microscopic observation has been largely applied; however, this method is time consuming, and the sensitivity of this method is highly dependent on the number of samples analyzed and the skills of the technician. Alternative techniques such as molecular detection of the protozoo have been developed lately, yielding excellent results