prevalence of zoonotic intestinal helminths of canids in mog­han plain, northwestern iran

background: the present study was aimed to elucidate the status of intestinal hel­minth infec­tions in canids of moghan plain, northwestern iran. methods: eighty-five intestine samples from dead or shot wild canids, 59 fecal samples from sheepdogs and 5 from red foxes were collected from 2006 to 2008 and examined in parasitology department of pasteur institute of iran. results: generally, adult worms, larvae, and eggs of 13 species of various parasitic hel­minths were recovered. necropsy examinations showed that 96.47% animals harbored at least one helminth species. the prevalence of different species in necropsy were mesoces­toides sp. 84.7%, rictolaria spp. 55.3%, macranthorhynchus hirudinaceus 45.9%, toxocara canis 43.5%, toxas­caris spp. 35.3%, joyeuxiella sp. 34.1%; hook­worms; 22.4%, taenia spp. 11.8%, alaria spp. 2.4% and dipylidium caninum 1.2%. be­sides, eggs belonging to 10 species of parasitic helminths were identified in 46 fecal sam­ples and generally, 30.9% of samples harbored eggs of at least one helminth species. conclusion: the high prevalence of various helminth infections among canids in mog­han plain and contamination of environment by helminths eggs may increase the risk of infection for native peo­ple.