BACKGROUND Pets may be carriers of infectious agents including parasites. As part of a larger-scale study covering the whole of Europe, this study examines deworming measures reported by Spanish pet owners and identifies risk factors. METHODS An online questionnaire was administered to cat and dog owners in Spain. The replies provided were used to obtain information about the pets' living conditions and to accordingly classify each pet into one of the four ESCCAP infection risk categories (A, B, C or D) for which different deworming frequencies are recommended. Questions were also asked about pet care and owners' attitude toward their pets. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to correlate risk groups with deworming frequencies. RESULTS Completed questionnaires were returned by 500 cat owners and 501 dog owners. According to responses, 96.21% of dogs were assigned to risk category D (maximum risk), and only 1.2%, 2.2% and 0.4% to A, B and C, respectively. Almost all cats were assigned to the minimum risk category A (indoor cats, 62%) or maximum risk category D (outdoor cats, 32.8%); only 3.4% and 1.8% of cats were classified as risk B and C respectively. More dogs were allocated to the higher risk group compared to cats, which were more frequently kept indoors. Cats were reportedly dewormed less frequently than dogs (2.56 and 3.13 times per year respectively), consistent with their different infestation risk. Thus, pets in the lower risk group A were either adequately dewormed or treated more often than necessary. Only a small proportion of cats were not dewormed at all (n = 14). Alarmingly, almost all pets in risk groups B, C or D (representing 95% of dogs and 39% of cats) were dewormed less often than recommended. CONCLUSIONS More effective health education is required for the management of zoonotic endoparasite diseases under the umbrella of One Health targeted at owners, veterinarians, general practitioners, and health authorities. To align deworming frequency with infection risk, pet owners should be provided with clear, compelling instructions.

中文翻译：

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西班牙宠物主人关于体内寄生虫感染风险和驱虫频率的调查。

背景技术宠物可以是包括寄生虫在内的传染媒介的载体。作为覆盖整个欧洲的大规模研究的一部分，本研究调查了西班牙宠物主人报告的驱虫措施，并确定了危险因素。方法对西班牙的猫狗主人进行了在线问卷调查。所提供的答复用于获取有关宠物的生活状况的信息，并据此将每只宠物归为推荐使用不同驱虫频率的四种ESCCAP感染风险类别（A，B，C或D）之一。还询问了有关宠物护理和主人对宠物的态度的问题。使用Kruskal-Wallis检验将风险组与驱虫频率相关联。结果500位猫主人和501位狗主人返回了完整的问卷。根据回复，96。21％的狗被归为D类（最大风险），而A，B和C分别仅为1.2％，2.2％和0.4％。几乎所有猫都被划分为最低风险类别A（室内猫，占62％）或最高风险类别D（室外猫，占32.8％）；分别只有3.4％和1.8％的猫被归类为风险B和C。与猫相比，被分配到较高风险组的狗更多，而猫则更多地呆在室内。据报道，猫驱虫的频率低于犬驱虫频率（分别为每年2.56次和3.13次），这与它们不同的侵扰风险一致。因此，低风险A组中的宠物被适当地驱虫或比必要时更频繁地进行治疗。只有一小部分猫根本没有被驱虫（n = 14）。令人震惊的是，危险群B中的几乎所有宠物，C或D（代表95％的狗和39％的猫）的驱虫频率低于建议的频率。结论在“一个健康”的保护下，需要更有效的健康教育，以控制人畜共患病的内寄生虫病，其针对人群，兽医，全科医生和卫生当局。为了使驱虫频率与感染风险相一致，应向宠物主人提供清晰，引人注目的说明。