Zoonotic hookworm found in two-thirds of dogs in rural Vietnam study

The study, led by Minh-Trang Thi Hoang of Buon Ma Thuot Medical University with colleagues from Tay Nguyen University in Vietnam and Kasetsart University in Bangkok, examined 371 fecal samples collected from dogs and detected hookworm infection in 66.6% of them, with a 95% confidence interval of 61.5 to 71.3. The findings add to evidence that zoonotic Ancylostoma ceylanicum circulates widely in dogs across Asia and support calls for integrated One Health surveillance and control measures in endemic regions.

Hookworm-positive samples were then subjected to polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, to determine which hookworm species were present. Molecular analysis identified two species: A. ceylanicum and Ancylostoma caninum, with A. ceylanicum being the predominant species. This distinction matters because A. ceylanicum is recognized as a zoonotic parasite, meaning it can be transmitted between animals and people, whereas the public health picture for canine hookworms more broadly is a recognized concern due to this zoonotic potential.

Beyond species identification, the study examined which factors were associated with infection. Dogs without a history of deworming had significantly higher odds of hookworm infection, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.77 (95% CI: 1.08–2.89), and dogs lacking proper fecal management also had significantly higher odds, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.79 (95% CI: 1.01–3.17). These adjusted estimates account for other variables in the analysis, and both confidence intervals exclude the value of one, indicating the associations were statistically significant in this dataset. The authors note that hookworm infection is endemic in Vietnam, yet information on canine hookworm infections in the country has remained limited, which is the gap this study set out to address.

The genetic analysis provided the study’s most striking public health signal. Using phylogenetic analysis based on cox1 mitochondrial sequences, the researchers found that all of the A. ceylanicum sequences they recovered belonged to the zoonotic haplotype and were closely related to isolates from humans, dogs, and cats across Asia. The final, formatted version of the article is still to be published by the journal, and the complete findings will appear under the authors’ copyright statement as an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. The authors state that all claims expressed in the article are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations or the publisher.

Subject of Research: Prevalence, risk factors, and molecular identification of canine hookworm infections in rural Vietnam

Article Title: Canine hookworm infections in Vietnam: prevalence, risk factors, and detection of zoonotic Ancylostoma ceylanicum

Article References: Hoang, M.-T. T., Ng-Nguyen, D., Kamyingkird, K., Ngo, V.-P., & Inpankaew, T. (2026). Canine hookworm infections in Vietnam: prevalence, risk factors, and detection of zoonotic Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 16, Article 1926338. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2026.1926338

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2026.1926338

Keywords: canine hookworm, Ancylostoma ceylanicum, Vietnam, zoonotic disease, prevalence, risk factors, PCR, cox1 phylogenetics, One Health, dogs, public health, parasitology