August 2020

​Eggs and worms and teeth, oh my!

​A 4-month-old German shepherd was submitted for necropsy to the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The dog had a history of hematochezia, anemia, and lethargy. The intestinal content was used to perform a centrifugal fecal flotation with Sheather’s solution. The following eggs and part of a worm were observed.

Image 1: 100X magnification

What's your diagnosis?

Ancylostoma caninum is the most common hookworm of dogs. Adults live in the small intestine, and their buccal cavity is armed with three pairs of teeth that are used to attach to the intestinal mucosa. They are voracious blood feeders, which gives them their dark colored appearance in fresh specimens. Peracute, acute, and chronic disease syndromes can occur. Transmission is via several routes: direct skin penetration or ingestion of infective third-stage larvae in the environment,  ingestion of a paratenic host with infective larvae in its tissues, or transmammary transmission to pups.
 
The eggs can be detected by flotation techniques, and measure 60–79 x 30–55um.

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Image 2: Anterior end of adult worm with an egg visible in its buccal cavity.