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Ancylostoma caninum, dog hookworm


Brief facts

  • Dog hookworms are one of the most common parasitic nematodes found in small intestine of foxes, dogs, and cats. They use their teeth-like plates to attach to capillary beds in the small intestine of a host where they draw mucus into their buccal cavity and suck the blood and tissue. Infection by a hookworm usually results in bloody diarrhea and anemia. In dogs recieving good veterinary care, hookworms are usually expelled in course of routine heartworm chemoprophylaxis (milbemycin oxime and a combination of ivermectin with pyrantel pamoate, benzimidazole antihelmintics).
  • In humans exposure to Ancylostoma caninum larvae can cause a severe rash known as "creeping eruption." The skin irritation occurs because the larvae cannot get below the skin in the normal human host. However, recently, A. caninum is started to be recognized as a potential causative agent of eosinophilic enteritis (EE) although proper diagnostics can be performed only by doctors who are aware of the hookworm's potential to infiltrate human intestine.