The Global Prevalence of Diphyllobothrium in Dogs,and Cats: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: fish tapeworms of the genus diphyllobothrium are pseudophyllidean cestodes transmitted through the consumption of raw or inadequately cooked fish. objective: the current systematic review and meta-analysis aim to estimate the global prevalence of diphyllobothrium in dogs and cats based on published literature. methods: multiple english databases (pubmed, scopus, proquest, web of science, and google scholar) were explored for relevant papers published until december 2021. findings: among the 37 studies that were included, 32 documented diphyllobothrium infection in dogs and five in cats. the pooled prevalence (95% confidence interval) was 0.060% (0.030%-0.100%). the analysis based on country showed that the highest pooled prevalence in dogs and cats was observed in bangladesh (0.250%, 0.149%-0.366%) and indonesia (0.254%, 0.182%-0.333%), respectively. based on the continent, africa (0.109%, 0.017%-0.264%) and asia (0.060%, 0%-0.345%) were the most common regions for infection in dogs and cats, respectively. among different diagnostic methods, the highest pooled prevalence was related to molecular (0.661%, 0.573%-0.743%) and parasitological techniques (0.041%, 0%-0.217%) for dogs and cats’ studies, respectively. conclusion: the findings show the importance of establishing a prevention and control measure focused on improving regular deworming and enhancing awareness of parasitic zoonotic diseases to minimize the transmission risk.