Prevalence of Linguatula serrata infestation in stray dogs of Shahrekord, Iran.

The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of pentastomid parasites in stray dogs between 16 November 2002 and 16 April 2003 in Sahrekord from Chaharmahalobakhtiari province, Iran. A total of 143 stray dogs were shot and the heads were longitudinally sectioned to expose the nasal cavity, and worms, if any, were carefully removed. Adult Linguatula serrata were found in the nasal cavities of 89 (62.2%) dogs. The infestation rate was 67.4 and 53.7% in males and females, respectively. The examined dogs were divided into three age groups: 1-2, 3-4 and up to 5 years old. There was a significant relationship between age and infestation rate with L. serrata (P < 0.01). The highest rate of infestation was in the second group. The number of parasites in each dog varied from one to 29 and totally 382 adult parasites were collected of which 219 were female (57.3%) and 163 were male (42.7%). Adult L. serrata were registered for the first time from dogs in Iran. This study indicates that infestation with L. serrata occurs commonly in stray dogs of this region in Iran.