References
Pet travellers' unwanted companions: a parasitic voyage across Europe
Abstract
In the modern world, country borders do not represent boundaries for the transmission of pathogens. This is also true for parasites that may travel with animals, particularly pets. Dogs and cats are moving across countries more than ever before as a result of adoption, commerce and travels with owners. In addition, climate change supports the establishment of parasites, particularly those transmitted by invertebrate intermediate hosts and vectors, into areas which were previously considered non-enzootic. Therefore, it is important for veterinarians to keep a vigilant eye on such parasitic infections in dogs and cats, be able to recognise compatible signs and feel confident in ordering specific diagnostic tests. This article presents parasites prevalently reported as imported from one European country to another. Furthermore, common clinical manifestations and diagnostic tests are summarised and the preventive measures that should be advised to pet owners are discussed. Raising awareness among veterinary practitioners and pet owners about the risk of parasites spreading in new areas is imperative for controlling and delaying globalisation of important, and potentially lethal, parasitic diseases.
In the ever-evolving global landscape, boundaries of various kinds are shifting or even dissolving altogether. This transformation finds its roots in a nexus of environmental, climatic, socioeconomic, geopolitical and behavioural changes. A striking illustration of this occurrence lies in the propagation and exchange of pathogens across diverse regions, ecosystems and countries. This phenomenon finds application in the importation of pet animal parasites, some of zoonotic importance, from enzootic areas to areas free of these infections among European countries. Parasites considered ‘exotic’ enter non-enzootic European countries via pet animals that serve as a Trojan horse, occasionally find suitable conditions to thrive locally and eventually become enzootic (Trees and Ridge, 2016).
Indeed, the number of travelling dogs and cats is steadily increasing. Pets travel with owners for holidays and tourism, when adopted and rehomed in a different country and in the form of trade from breeding facilities located in a different country than that of purchase. Pet movements have been facilitated because of discontinuation of quarantine restrictions and regulations that were previously in force – primarily for rabies control – in many European countries including Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, the UK, Cyprus and Malta (Hunter, 2016). Over the years, quarantine was replaced in many European countries by the ‘Pet Travel Scheme’, which allows dogs and other pets to move between European Union countries and certain non-European Union countries with specific health checks, microchipping, vaccinations and documentation. However, the documentation that is needed in most countries (eg administration of praziquantel for Echinococcus spp. control or negative serological examination for Leishmania spp.) clearly does not cover all possible parasitic infections and leave room for the import of new parasites (Diakou, 2017).
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