What is Giardiodiasis?
Giardiasis is an intestinal disorder with diarrhea as the main symptom caused by Giardia lamii.
peculiarity:
Zoonotic diseases (one of the top 10 parasitic diseases in the world)
Distributed all over the world (a very equal insect, common in developed and underdeveloped areas)
Hostless specificity (humans, dogs, rodents, birds are all susceptible animals)
Water and food are important routes of transmission, and transmission through drinking water is more common
What does a Jadi flagella look like?
There are two main forms of jadhiella: trophozoites (which can be understood as worm bodies) and cysts (which can be understood as eggs).
Trophozoites: The biggest feature is that they have two large eyes (nuclei) and 8 cute legs (4 pairs of flagella, very athletic, usually very active under the microscope).
Capsule: oval, the shell (capsule wall) is quite thick, the resistance is very strong; the capsule wall has a clear gap with the center, the immature capsule has 2 nuclei, and the mature capsule has 4 nuclei, usually biased to one end.
How does Jadi flagella spread?
Humans, dogs, and cats (usually young individuals with weak immunity) are transmitted through contaminated dietary/drinking water intake.
The cyst is decapsulated in the intestine to form a trophozoite, and the trophoblader forms a cyst in the colon. Animals infected with the disease excrete 150-20,000 bags per gram of feces per day.
The structure of the envelope wall is complex and tough, and it has strong resistance, and it can survive for 3 weeks in moist feces, 5 weeks in water, and 2-3 days in chlorine-disinfected water.
Image source: Kenichiro Ono,"Illustration of Canine Disease" P119
Symptoms of infection with Jadhi's flagella?
More common in dogs, less common in cats.
Persistent or intermittent chronic diarrhea.
The stool is mushy, light brown, putrid, and occasionally mixed with mucus and blood.
Usually there is no significant change in body temperature and appetite.
How is the diagnosis made?
Stool examination can confirm the diagnosis by finding a capsule or trophozoite. However, stool tests are only 60% detectable, so it is recommended to check every other day, more than 3 times in a row, or use flagellar dipsticks for testing.
How is it treated? Can it be cured?
Flagellar is mainly treated with metronidazole or fenbendazole as prescribed by a doctor, and is usually cured in about 1 week. However, the main effect of these drugs is to inhibit the production of cysts, so the possibility of recurrence is still very high, and the focus of treatment should be on prevention.
How to prevent it?
Maintain the hygiene of diet and drinking water, do not eat untreated raw meat, do not let dirty water (in addition to the water in the toilet and urinal, the water in the fish tank that is not carefully disinfected may also become a source of infection!). ）。
Maintain environmental hygiene and disinfect the environment.
Clean up pet feces in a timely manner.
Regular in-body deworming.
In addition, Giardia is easily confused with the cat's three-litter trichomoniasis, which has no therapeutic effect with metronidazole or fenbendazole, so it should be carefully screened.