Identification of Ancylostoma caninum in Domestic Dogs from Ecuador via Various Techniques

BACKGROUND Ancylostoma caninum is a soil-borne, soil-transmitted helminth with infective larvae and produces cutaneous larva migrans in humans. The objective of this study was to confirm the presence of A. caninum in domestic dogs from the urban-marginal and rural sectors of the Ecuadorian coast through morphometry, culture, and molecular techniques. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 498 domestic dogs were analyzed via 5 coproparasitic screening methods: direct, modified flotation, sedimentation with centrifugation using saline solution (identification of eggs), and modified Baermann and Harada-Mori methods (identification of larvae). For confirmation, culture (agar in plates, Müller-Hinton agar plates, MacConkey agar plates, and artisanal media with sand and/or ravine soil, both sterile, and all prepared in Petri dishes), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing analyses were subsequently conducted via morphometric methods. RESULTS A total of 250 domestic dogs were diagnosed with A. caninum (50.20%) via coproparasitic methods. The parasite was subsequently confirmed via morphometry, cultured in 5 culture media, and detected by PCR, and phylogenetic characterization was performed. CONCLUSIONS The coproparasitic methods used for screening increased the sensitivity of the results. Morphometry is an easily accessible and low-cost confirmatory method. The culture method was used to test the good adaptability of and infection by the parasite. The presence of A. caninum was detected for the first time via PCR, and its phylogenetic profile was analyzed using the molecular marker cox1.