Echinococcosis in dogs in urban and rural areas in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt.

A sample of one hundred and ninety stray dogs was captured from Mansoura city (urban) and three hundreds and fifty stray dogs were captured from Meet El-Korama, Mansheit El-Badawy villages (rural). The total prevalence of E. granulosus was 5%, with a worm burden ranging from 4 to 1010 (mean = 421). The significant prevalence was 6% in the rural area and 3.2% in the urban one. E. granulosus showed higher prevalence in young than old dogs and in males than females but without significant difference in both variants. The overall Echino-ELISA sensitivity was 61.5% and specificity was 97.5%. The major cross reactivity was with Taenia spp., and Diplydium caninum, but neither with Toxocara canis or Trichurus vulpis nor Ancylostoma caninum. There was a negative correlation between ELISA and Echinococcus granulosus burden in dogs.