Every year over 20,000 people die from rabies in India alone. Most of these are children, and almost always from a dog bite. It’s this shocking statistic that prompted us to bring rabies vaccines with us to India. And this is why we plan to continue to have rabies prevention a goal in our future project.
For the past two days (June 28/29) we have been working with the Karuna Krunj dog and cat shelter just outside of Kolkata. The conditions at the shelter were different from any that we have in the states. The animals are loose in large enclosures and able to interact with each other. We set up our clinics in the middle of these enclosures and performed physical exams, gave vaccines and limited treatments from supplies that we brought, and collected fecal samples for our research on internal parasites. We were able to vaccinate 42 animals using rabies vaccines that we obtained through the generosity of Boehringer-Ingelheim.
From the physical exams we found several issues that were of the greatest concern. The majority of the dogs were underweight, many emaciated. Also, most of both the cats and dogs suffered from fungal skin infections, upper respiratory disease, anemia, and dehydration.
From the physical exams we found several issues that were of the greatest concern. The majority of the dogs were underweight, many emaciated. Also, most of both the cats and dogs suffered from fungal skin infections, upper respiratory disease, anemia, and dehydration.
We were able to obtain 6 cat fecal samples from the enclosure, and 11 small fecal samples from the dogs. We ran fecal floats and looked at the results under microscopes, lent to us for this trip free of charge by I-Miller. Three of the eleven dogs tested positive for worms. The samples that we got were very small so a positive test indicates fairly heavy loads of infection. We suspect that the actual parasite infection incidence is higher than what we found in the dogs. We dewormed one of the puppies yesterday, before we received the results of the fecal float, due to the fact that he displayed classic signs of a high parasite infection load. When we ran the fecal float, his sample tested negative. However when we returned today, the shelter workers reported that this puppy had passed many worms in his stool that morning from the deworming we did. So we know that this dog did in fact have parasites, despite testing negative for them.
The parasites that we did find in the fecals of the dogs were Trichuris vulpis and Ancylostoma caninum (Whipworms and Hookworms). Ancylostoma (Hookworms) are zoonotic. They can be transmitted to humans by penetrating the skin, often the feet of someone walking barefoot, and they can cause cutaneous migrans disease. In dogs, hookworms can cause severe anemia. We suspect that the anemia we saw in several of the shelter dogs was from their hookwork infection. We were able to deworm these dogs in hopes of resolving this issue and to help prevent transmission to other dogs and humans.
The parasites that we did find in the fecals of the dogs were Trichuris vulpis and Ancylostoma caninum (Whipworms and Hookworms). Ancylostoma (Hookworms) are zoonotic. They can be transmitted to humans by penetrating the skin, often the feet of someone walking barefoot, and they can cause cutaneous migrans disease. In dogs, hookworms can cause severe anemia. We suspect that the anemia we saw in several of the shelter dogs was from their hookwork infection. We were able to deworm these dogs in hopes of resolving this issue and to help prevent transmission to other dogs and humans.
All six of the cat fecal samples were positive for intestinal parasites; 2 with Ancylostoma tubaeforme (Hookworms), 3 with Taxocara cati (Roundworms), and 1 with both. The presence of roundworms is the most significant for our study because roundworms can infect humans. Furthermore, when we shadowed at the Pratit human clinic, the Indian doctor perscribed Albendazole dewormer for several kids that were failing to grow properly. He said he suspected that they had roundworms that were preventing the children from gaining weight. The vast majority of poor children in India walk around barefoot and do not have access to places to wash their hands, so they are at high risk of getting intestinal worms.
The last two days of clinics have been a great experience for us. We were able to make a difference in the quality of life of the dogs and cats at the shelter, and we also gained valuable information that will help us develop our future Mere Saathi project. Knowing that the dogs and cats do have intestinal worms that are transmissible to humans and that the children in India are in fact affected by these same parasites, allows us to be confident that the simple act of deworming cats and dogs in our project can help make a big difference in the health of not only the animals, but the humans that interact with them as well.
[ Update: The Times of India reported on our Karuna Kunj animal clinic in their 1 August 2011 issue. ]
[ Update: The Times of India reported on our Karuna Kunj animal clinic in their 1 August 2011 issue. ]
Location of Karuna Kunj Animal Shelter, SW Kolkata
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