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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Nov;8(6):2785-2805.
doi: 10.1002/vms3.932. Epub 2022 Sep 9.

The global prevalence of Spirometra parasites in snakes, frogs, dogs, and cats: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Milad Badri  1   2 , Meysam Olfatifar  3 , Amir KarimiPourSaryazdi  4 , Leila Zaki  4 , Luis Manuel Madeira de Carvalho  5 , Majid Fasihi Harandi  6 , Fatemeh Barikbin  7 , Parisa Madani  2 , Aida Vafae Eslahi  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The global prevalence of Spirometra parasites in snakes, frogs, dogs, and cats: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Milad Badri et al. Vet Med Sci. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Spirometra infection is aneglected food- and waterborne disease with worldwide distribution.

Objectives: The present study aims to estimate the global prevalence of Spirometra species in snakes, frogs, dogs and cats.

Methods: Multiple databases (PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched for relevant literatures published up to March 2022.

Results: Among 131 data sets (including 113 articles) that met the inclusion, 15 investigations reported Spirometra infection in snakes, 23 in frogs, 41 in dogs and 52 in cats. The pooled prevalence (95% confidence interval) in intermediate hosts and definitive hosts was found to be 0.313% and 0.089%, respectively. Based on continent, the infection was most prevalent in Asia for studies on snakes (0.696%) and frogs (0.181%), while Africa (0.224%) and Oceania (0.203%) were the regions with the highest pooled prevalence rates of the infection in dogs and cats, respectively. Among different diagnostic methods, the highest pooled prevalence was related to morphological method for studies on snakes, frog and cats with rate of 0.665%, 0.189% and 0.104%, respectively. Regarding studies on dogs, the highest pooled prevalence was observed for molecular technique (0.101%).

Conclusions: The results presented here revealed the importance of establishing a prevention and control measure focused on protection of aquaculture systems from being contaminated with faeces of dogs and cats, and raising awareness of parasitic zoonotic diseases to decrease the transmission risk.

Keywords: Spirometra; amphibians; canine; feline; reptiles; zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow diagram of the study design process
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plots for random‐effects meta‐analysis of Spirometra in snakes
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Forest plots for random‐effects meta‐analysis of Spirometra in frogs
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Forest plots for random‐effects meta‐analysis of Spirometra in dogs
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Forest plots for random‐effects meta‐analysis of Spirometra in cats
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Prevalence of Spirometra in (a) snakes, (b) frogs, (c) dogs and (d) cats in different geographical regions of the world based on the included studies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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