Parasitic infections are among the most common infections worldwide, principally in developing countries with poor environmental sanitation and inadequate personal hygiene. Efforts should be made to increase the awareness of the contamination risk of such parasites in the environment and implement a targeted educational program. To our knowledge, the study highlights for the first time in Tunisia a serious environmental contamination by numerous parasitic stages infective to humans.

The parasite contamination of dog faeces varied significantly from one region to another in function of the climate. For wild canid faeces, the most commonly encountered parasites were Toxocara spp.

The most frequently observed parasites in dog samples were Toxocara spp. The helminth eggs and protozoan oocysts were concentrated by sucrose flotation and identified by microscopic examination. One thousand two hundred and seventy faecal samples from stray dogs and 104 from wild canids (red foxes and golden jackals) were collected from different geographical regions throughout Tunisia.

The aim of this study was to assess the environmental contamination with eggs and oocysts of gastrointestinal parasites of dogs and wild canids in Tunisia with special attention to those that can be transmitted to humans. Contamination of areas with canid faeces harboring infective parasite elements represents a relevant health-risk impact for humans. Although data on the parasite environmental contamination are crucial to implement strategies for control and treatment, information about zoonotic helminths is very limited in Tunisia.

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