Ancylostoma braziliense

Ancylostoma brasiliense hookworm found in dogs in the family of hookworms (Ancylostomatidae) and the genus Ancylostoma. It colonizes the intestines of animals as a parasite and is highly pathogenic to dogs. Infestation causes anemia, emaciation, and often bloody diarrhea in dogs and cats. Bronchopneumonia and itchy skin lesions may also occur.

Ancylostoma brasiliense is also pathogenic to humans, although humans are false hosts.

In this respect, they can penetrate the skin of humans, but they do not succeed in haematogenously spreading to infect internal organs. In this respect, there is only a local infection with the appearance of a larva migrans cutanea syndrome.

The infection occurs via the skin when walking barefoot on soil contaminated with dog faeces.

In individual cases, the infection apparently also leads to allergic systemic reactions such as pruritus, erythema multiforme, eosinophilic pneumonitis, localised myositis (Lucio-Forster A et al. 2012).

1. Bowman DD et al. (2010) Hookworms of dogs and cats as agents of cutaneous larva migrans. Trends Parasitol 26:162-167.
2. Del Giudice P et al (2019) Autochthonous cutaneous larva migrans in France and Europe. Acta Derm Venereol 99:805-808
3. Lucio-Forster A ET AL. (2012) Morphological differentiation of eggs of Ancylostoma caninum, Ancylostoma tubaeforme, and Ancylostoma braziliense from dogs and cats in the United States. J Parasitol 98:1041-1044.