Prevalence of opisthorchiasis in the Pavlodar region of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The territory of the Pavlodar region is a natural focus with a high intensity of the spread of opisthorchiasis invasion among people. One of the important preventive measures in the foci of opisthorchiasis is the elimination of helminths in the body of the main owners, which leads not only to the rupture of the biological chains of helminth development, but also to the protection of the environment from invasive pollution. Opisthorchiasis is widespread in the Pavlodar region, the extensiveness of invasion among carnivores is 5.7%. Cases of the incidence of cats were detected in five out of 10 districts (Aksu, Aktogay, Pavlodar, Shcherbaktinsky, Maysky), dogs -in two districts (Terenkol, Irtysh). Opisthorchiasis was not revealed in the study of the pig population. Cats and dogs, especially in coastal rural settlements of the region, support the existence of opisthorchiasis foci and contribute to their stabilization. The main source of the release of opisthorchis eggs into the external environment are cats, their infection rate is 2 times higher than that of dogs. In the Pavlodar region, opisthorchiasis of animals is caused by the O. felineus pathogen or cat fluke.