Prevalence of helminthes in adult dogs in Heilongjiang Province, the People's Republic of China.

The prevalence of helminthes in adult dogs was investigated in Heilongjiang Province, the People's Republic of China, between 1996 and 2004. A total of 178 adult farm dogs from representative geographical locations in Heilongjiang Province were killed and examined for the presence of helminthes using a helminthological approach. The worms were examined, counted, and identified to species according to existing keys and descriptions. A total of 17 species of helminthes were found to infect dogs, and they represented two phyla, three orders, 13 families, and 15 genera. All dogs were infected by more than one helminth species. Clonorchis sinensis (26.4%), Paragonimus westermani (7.9%), and Metagonimus yokogawai (6.2%) were the most common trematode species; Mesocestoides lineatus (20.2%), Taenia hydatigena (19.7%), and Dipylidium caninum (14.6%) were the most common cestodes species; and Ancylostoma caninum (66.3%), Toxocara canis (36.5%), and Trichinella nativa (21.9%) were the most common nematode species. The results of the present investigation provide relevant "base-line" data for assessing the effectiveness of future control strategies against helminth infection in dogs in Heilongjiang Province, China.