The hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum: an emerging public health risk in Australian tropical rainforests and Indigenous communities
Smout, Felicity A., Skerratt, Lee F., Butler, James R.A., Johnson, Christopher N., Congdon, Bradley C., and Thompson, R.C. Andrew (2017) The hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum: an emerging public health risk in Australian tropical rainforests and Indigenous communities. One Health, 3. pp. 66-69.
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Abstract
Ancylostoma ceylanicum is the common hookworm of domestic dogs and cats throughout Asia, and is an emerging but little understood public health risk in tropical northern Australia. We investigated the prevalence of A. ceylanicum in soil and free-ranging domestic dogs at six rainforest locations in Far North Queensland that are Indigenous Australian communities and popular tourist attractions within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. By combining PCR-based techniques with traditional methods of hookworm species identification, we found the prevalence of hookworm in Indigenous community dogs was high (96.3% and 91.9% from necropsy and faecal samples, respectively). The majority of these infections were A. caninum. We also observed, for the first time, the presence of A. ceylanicum infection in domestic dogs (21.7%) and soil (55.6%) in an Indigenous community. A. ceylanicum was present in soil samples from two out of the three popular tourist locations sampled. Our results contribute to the understanding of dogs as a public health risk to Indigenous communities and tourists in the Wet Tropics. Dog health needs to be more fully addressed as part of the Australian Government's commitments to "closing the gap" in chronic disease between Indigenous and other Australians, and encouraging tourism in similar locations.
| Item ID: | 48854 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2352-7714 |
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| Copyright Information: | © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/). |
| Additional Information: | A version of this publication was included as Chapter 5 of the following PhD thesis: Smout, Felicity Angela (2019) Potential for transmission of zoonotic helminth infections among dingoes and dogs in the wet tropics of North Queensland, Australia. PhD thesis, James Cook University., which is available Open Access in ResearchOnline@JCU. Please see the Related URLs for access. |
| Funders: | Australian Research Council (ARC), Skyrail Rainforest Foundation (SRF), Terrain NRM, Australian Rainforest Foundation, Australian Society of Parasitology |
| Date Deposited: | 09 May 2017 22:03 |
| FoR Codes: | 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4504 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing > 450417 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public health and wellbeing @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420202 Disease surveillance @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920404 Disease Distribution and Transmission (incl. Surveillance and Response) @ 50% 92 HEALTH > 9203 Indigenous Health > 920301 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health - Determinants of Health @ 50% |
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