Prevalence of internal parasites in pet and zoo reptiles in Estonia ; Siseparasiitide levimus lemmik- ja loomaaia roomajatel Eestis

Final Thesis Curriculum in Veterinary Medicine ; Internal parasites of reptiles are common finding encountered in veterinary practice, with high though variable prevalence. Various parasitic species can be encountered with variable effects on the health of the animal. Not all found parasites are pathological to the host, some species may act as commensals and others be so called pseudoparasites, species that are not parasitic to the host they are found from. Baseline knowledge about the most common species affecting reptiles and the common diagnostic techniques provide valuable tools even for the general practitioner. In this final thesis, the main aim was to determine the prevalence of internal parasites in Estonian pet and zoo reptiles. As side objectives, the most common parasitic group infecting the reptiles and occurrence of clinical signs were to be determined, as well as possible effect of hygiene on the occurrence of the clinical signs. The study was executed as a survey, combining an online questionnaire and voluntary submission of a fecal sample that was analysed by combining native smear and flotation techniques. Based on the literature and previous studies, the prevalence was expected to be near 50%. The result of the study found a prevalence of true internal parasites to be 18% among the study population The found parasites belong to pinworms, hookworms and superfamily Strongyloidea. Pseudoparasites were common findings, presented as eggs of mites in the fecal analysis. None of the animals with confirmed parasitosis presented any clinical signs, and thus the effect of hygiene could not be evaluated with the collected data. The prevalence found in this study was lot lower than expected, but the results may be affected by the very small size of the study population. To find the actual prevalence among Estonian reptile population, new study with more controlled fecal sample collection should be arranged. ; Roomajate siseparasiidid on veterinaarpraktikas levinud leid, mille levimus on suur, kuigi ...