Prevalence, Diversity and Risk factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Stray Dogs and Cats in Chengdu City

Prevalence, Diversity and Risk factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Stray Dogs and Cats in Chengdu City | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Prevalence, Diversity and Risk factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Stray Dogs and Cats in Chengdu City Juexin Chen, Xiaoxiao Zhou, Samuel Kumi Okyere, Min Li, Lixin Zhou, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7369240/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To understand the intestinal parasitic infection status in stray dogs and cats in Chengdu, a total of 182 fecal samples were collected from stray dogs and cats from various districts and counties within Chengdu. Parasite eggs were enriched using the saturated saline flotation method and water sedimentation method, followed by microscopic examination. Additionally, 116 samples were selected for 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the overall parasitic infection rate in the feces of stray dogs and cats in Chengdu was 23.08%, with a total of 11 parasite species (including 4 nematodes, 3 cestodes, 2 trematodes, and 2 protozoans) identified. The dominant parasite species in dogs was Toxocara canis (infection rate 15.38%), followed by Hymenolepis diminuta (infection rate 5.77%). In cats, the dominant parasite species was Spirometra mansoni (infection rate 10.26%), followed by Toxocara cati (infection rate 7.69%). The fecal samples from Chenghua District exhibited higher microbial diversity. At the genus level, the dominant parasites primarily included Ancylostoma , Strongyloide , Cystoisospora and Toxocara . These findings indicated a high prevalence and diversity of parasitic infections in the feces of stray dogs and cats in Chengdu, which may pose a high zoonotic risk to both humans and companion animals. It is therefore recommended that relevant authorities strengthen the management of stray dogs and cats, conduct regular deworming programs, and enhance public health education to raise awareness and prevention measures. Stray dogs and cats Intestinal parasites Infection status 18S rRNA sequencing Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7369240","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":507261674,"identity":"fe738783-df28-4546-82cc-5c5c13182a3e","order_by":0,"name":"Juexin Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sichuan Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juexin","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":507261675,"identity":"25b5c025-1a12-427a-822a-608d9f31c4ad","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaoxiao Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chengdu Center for Animal Disease Prevention and 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Parasite eggs were enriched using the saturated saline flotation method and water sedimentation method, followed by microscopic examination. Additionally, 116 samples were selected for 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the overall parasitic infection rate in the feces of stray dogs and cats in Chengdu was 23.08%, with a total of 11 parasite species (including 4 nematodes, 3 cestodes, 2 trematodes, and 2 protozoans) identified. The dominant parasite species in dogs was \u003cem\u003eToxocara canis\u003c/em\u003e (infection rate 15.38%), followed by \u003cem\u003eHymenolepis diminuta\u003c/em\u003e (infection rate 5.77%). In cats, the dominant parasite species was \u003cem\u003eSpirometra mansoni\u003c/em\u003e (infection rate 10.26%), followed by \u003cem\u003eToxocara cati\u003c/em\u003e (infection rate 7.69%). The fecal samples from Chenghua District exhibited higher microbial diversity. At the genus level, the dominant parasites primarily included \u003cem\u003eAncylostoma\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eStrongyloide\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCystoisospora\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eToxocara\u003c/em\u003e. These findings indicated a high prevalence and diversity of parasitic infections in the feces of stray dogs and cats in Chengdu, which may pose a high zoonotic risk to both humans and companion animals. It is therefore recommended that relevant authorities strengthen the management of stray dogs and cats, conduct regular deworming programs, and enhance public health education to raise awareness and prevention measures.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Prevalence, Diversity and Risk factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Stray Dogs and Cats in Chengdu City","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-03 19:30:40","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7369240/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"36010c7d-e269-4a2c-aaef-d6afa4c41cec","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 3rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-19T09:23:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-03 19:30:40","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7369240","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7369240","identity":"rs-7369240","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}