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Introduction
Lack of canine population management in developing countries has led to the overpopulation that emerges as a public health problem since dogs can harbour infections by pathogens potentially transmissible to humans (Katagiri & Oliveira-Sequeira, 2008). Among the zoonotic infections, those caused by hookworms stand out for their worldwide distribution and for veterinary and public health relevance. Canine hookworms include the species Ancylostoma caninum, Ancylostoma braziliense, Ancylostoma ceylanicum and Uncinaria stenocephala, and, of these, A. caninum is one of the most prevalent and pathogenic gastrointestinal parasites, causing an acute or chronic haemorrhagic anaemia, particularly severe in young pups (Bowman et al., 2010). From a public health perspective, the most common situation related to dog hookworms is cutaneous larva migrans (CLM), a neglected parasitic skin disease commonly found in resource-poor communities in tropical countries (Lesshafft et al., 2012). The skin lesions, also called creeping eruptions or sand-worm disease, are due to the penetration and migration of canine hookworm infective larvae, producing an erythematous, linear or serpiginous track that is intensely pruritic and self-limiting (Bowman et al., 2010). Even though both A. caninum and A. braziliense are the most common canine hookworms, there is evidence that the latter is most often responsible for limiting CLM (Traub et al., 2005; Palmer et al., 2007; Bowman et al., 2010).
Despite the recognized importance of hookworms in low-income settings in the world, there is still limited information to date on the occurrence of these species in South America. However, investigations have provided data on the overall prevalence of Ancylostoma spp. infection in dogs (Fontanarrosa et al., 2006; Katagiri & Oliveira-Sequeira, 2008; Gingrich et al., 2010; Mandarino-Pereira et al., 2010; Soriano et al., 2010; Heukelbach et al., 2012) and on soil contamination by hookworm eggs (Mandarino-Pereira et al., 2010; Marques et al., 2012; Sprenger et al., 2014; La Sala et al., 2015). To a lesser extent, adults of both A. caninum and A. braziliense have been reported to infect dogs in Brazil but, as far as we know, in surveys based on parasitological findings at necropsy (Heukelbach & Feldmeier, 2008; Klimpel et al., 2010; Coelho et al., 2011). With the...