Prevalence of Protozoa and Gastrointestinal Helminthesin Stray Cats in Zanjan Province, North-West of Iran

Background: cats and other felines act as definitive hosts for many intestinal parasites,some of which are responsible for several zoonotic diseases. the aim of this study was todetermine the type and prevalence of protozoa and gastrointestinal helminthes among straycats.methods: a cross sectional study was conducted. digestive tracts of 100 stray cats in zanjan province, north-west of iran were autopsied in order to recognize gastrointestinal helminthesand intestinal protozoan parasites. these cats were collected by baited cage trapped fromoctober 2007 to september 2008. gender and species of helminthes and protozoa were recognized using authentic diagnostic criteria. statistical evaluation was performed by spss version 14.results: forty-two percent of cats were infected with intestinal protozoan parasites, 33% were infected with cestodes and 39% infected with gastrointestinal nematodes. four species protozoan parasites and eight gastrointestinal helminthes were recovered from the animals,including taenia taeniaeformis, dipylidium spp., joyeuxiella pasqaulei, toxocara cati, physalopterapraeputialis, rectalaria spp., onicolla, cystoisospora spp., toxoplasma gondii,and sarcocystis spp .conclusions: the high infection rate of toxoplasma and some gastrointestinal helminthes instray cats is considered to be critical from the viewpoint of public health importance.