— By Dr. Rajesh Katoch, Dr. Sanku Borkataki, Dr. Anish Yadav and Dr. Rajesh Godara
Hookworm infection in cats is primarily caused by the intestinal parasite Ancylostoma tubaeforme occasionally Ancylostoma braziliense and rarely by Uncinaria stenocephala. Ancyclostoma tubaeforme is 7-15mm in length, reddish, bent anteriorly with cylindrical body and females are longer than males. Females lay oval thin-walled eggs measuring 60×40 micron in feces and hatch into larva which moult to infective stage, which can live in soil for weeks or months.
Causes and transmission
The infective larvae can penetrate cat skin or cat’s paw pads. It is also ingested in contaminated food and water. Infected larva ingested by rat and mice migrate to tissue, including muscles and organs, where they remain viable and dormant, potentially for months or years and become major source of infection for cats as hunted and consumed. The infective larva is released in stomach, move to the small intestine, and develop directly into adult worms without needing to undergo the complex tracheal migration. The infective larvae can also penetrate human beings, when walking barefoot or sitting on soil/sand contaminated with cat feces or while handling pet waste.
Symptoms
Larva penetration seen specially in interdigital spaces of paw and belly leading to inflammation causing irritation, itching, redness, papule formation and sometime severe skin dermatitis. Post entry it takes tracheal migration leading to coughing and respiratory distress. Finally, it settles in small intestine, sucks blood voraciously, leading to weakness, pale gums, fatigue, loss of weight and kittens fail to thrive.
It further causes dark or tarry colored diarrhea which is common symptom. In humans it causes intense itching, raised red tracks (linear lesions), typically on feet, legs, or buttocks and eventually vanishes in months as larva cannnot mature in humans.
Prevention and Control
The most effective sustainable strategy involves monthly, year-round, topically or orally administered prevention that targets not only adult hookworms but also their larval stages, thus stopping the parasite life cycle before it causes disease.
Kittens should be dewormed at 3 weeks of age, with treatments repeated every two weeks until 8 weeks of age. Adult cats should have fecal examinations six times per year if they are high-risk.
Management of environment is crucial for preventing re-infection as hook worm larva thrives in warm, moist, and shaded environments. Regular and prompt removal of feces from litter boxes, lawns and soil. Cleaning/ swapping litter boxes with hot detergent water. Avoid walking barefoot near cat defecated areas and use gloves while handling apparatus associated with cat management. Keep cat indoor so that it cannot hunt paratenic host (rat and mice) and get infected. It will also reduce exposure to infected soil/sand/lawn area created by wild cats.
(Division of Veterinary Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science and AH, SKUAST-Jammu)