Incrimination of Dog Vector of Cystic Echinococcosis and Impact of the Appropriate Dogs’ Treatment

Dogs are involved in the transmission of several parasitic zoonosis. Among these, hydatidosis is very endemic in many countries of the world. Dog populations are very variable from one region to another, which increases the infestation risks across human populations especially in the developing countries such as in Morocco. Moreover, the risk of exposure is higher in dogs with access to rural slaughterhouses than in owned dogs. As for preventive measures, this calls for effective implementation of the appropriate dogs’ treatment against hydatidosis. Thus, the following chapter updates the most relevant information on the impact of hydatidosis upon human populations and livestock animals, as to stretch understanding on the vector contribution of dogs.

Canine Genetics and Genomics

In the past fifteen years, tremendous progress has been made in dog genomics. Several genetic aspects of cancer, heart disease, hip dysplasia, vision and hearing problems in dogs have been investigated and studied in detail. Genome-wide associative studies have made it possible to identify several genes associated with diseases, morphological and behavioral traits. The dog genome contains an extraordinary amount of genetic variability that distinguishes the different dog breeds. As a consequence of the selective programs, applied using stringent breed standards, each dog breed represents, today, a population isolated from the others. The availability of modern next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques and the identification of millions of single functional mutations (SNPs) has enabled us to obtain new and unknown detailed genomic data of the different breeds.