Journal article
The hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum: An emerging public health risk in Australian tropical rainforests and Indigenous communities
Felicity A Smout, Lee F Skerratt, James RA Butler, Christopher N Johnson, Bradley C Congdon, RC Andrew Thompson
ONE HEALTH | ELSEVIER | Published : 2017
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 infe..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank staff from Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Inc. at Mossman Gorge for assistance with sample collection. Thank you also to Alfred Gray Jnr, Stephen Canendo, Shanna Mossman and Herman Sexton, Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council and Jumbun Aboriginal Community. Felicity Smout received partial financial support from the Australian Research Council, Skyrail Rainforest Foundation, Terrain NRM, Australian Rainforest Foundation and the Australian Society of Parasitology researcher exchange training and travel award. We would also like to thank Aileen Eliott, Louise Pallant and Angela Reeves for their advice and expertise with microscopic and PCR analysis.