Canine tungiasis: High prevalence in a tourist region in Bahia state, Brazil.
Tungiasis is a parasitic skin disease neglected by authorities, health professionals, and the general population. Its occurrence is significantly associated with poverty. A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe the prevalence of tungiasis, associated clinical signs and risk factors of the canine population at a tourist site in the city of Ilhéus, Bahia (northeast Brazil). All village households were visited and dogs inspected after authorization by owners. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered. Of the 114 dogs included in the study, 71 (62.3%) were infested; all of them had lesions on their pads. An ectopic lesion on the nose was observed in one dog (1.4%). The number of manipulated lesions outnumbered the number of vital and avital lesions with an average of 88.3%. Edema (95.8%) and hyperkeratosis (85.9%) were the most prevalent clinical signs. Behavioral disorders such as excessive licking (6/71; 8.5%), disobedience (1/71; 1.4%) and prostration (2/71; 2.8%) were reported. In the multi-variate analysis, semi-restricted condition of the dogs (adjusted OR=8.58; 95% CI=2.47-29.76) and the presence of sand on the compound (adjusted OR=14.23, 95% CI=2.88-70.28) were significantly associated with infestation. We concluded that, infestation with Tunga spp. is highly endemic in the canine population of the village. The low level of restrictions on dogs and the presence of sand in areas most frequented by the animals are perpetuating factors of infestation in the community, subject to integrated and multidisciplinary intervention measures.
['Harvey|Tatiani Vitor|TV|', 'Heukelbach|Jorg|J|', 'Assunção|Maíra Siles|MS|', 'Fernandes|Thalna Magalhães|TM|', 'da Rocha|Christiane Maria Barcellos Magalhães|CM|', 'Carlos|Renata Santiago Alberto|RS|']
D000818:Animals D001938:Brazil D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D004283:Dog Diseases D004285:Dogs D005260:Female D007794:Lameness, Animal D008297:Male D015999:Multivariate Analysis D015995:Prevalence D012307:Risk Factors D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D058253:Tunga D058285:Tungiasis
Dogs Epidemiology Northeastern Brazil Tunga penetrans