Prevalence of Giardia duodenalis in Household and Shelter Cats in Almaty, South-Eastern Kazakhstan

Giardia duodenalis is a widely distributed protozoan parasite, that causes acute gastroenteritis in many animal species and humans all over the world. We aimed to carry out a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of G. duodenalis among cats in Almaty City, Kazakhstan. A total of 164 fecal samples from different origin cats (household, sheltered) in two veterinary clinics and three shelters of Almaty were collected taking into account animals' age, gender, housing type and consistency of feces. A study of each sample was performed using the zinc sulfate flotation method and Fastest^®Crypto-Giardia (MEGACOR, Austria) Immunochromatographic (ICA) kit. In Almaty city, the prevalence of Giardia was significantly (p<0.05) higher in shelter cats (26.1%) than in pet animals (4.2%). The occurrence of the parasite was higher in young cats (18.8%) than in adults (8.3%). The presence of infection antigens was almost two times higher in diarrheal animals than in those with compact stool. G. duodenalis prevalence in males was slightly lower than in females. Further genetic research has to be performed to assess the zoonotic risk of the pathogen for regional public health.