Investigation of Factors Associated with Subclinical Infections of and in Kennel-Housed Dogs ().

and spp. are zoonotic protozoal pathogens, spread by a fecal-oral route, which can infect a wide range of hosts including but not limited to dogs and humans. was recently estimated to be present in 37% to 50% of kennel-housed dogs. infections in kennel-housed dogs have been reported in 7% to 21% of the population. The goal of this study was to define demographic factors and fecal scores associated with positive screening test cases of and in kennel-housed laboratory dogs in the state of Texas. Fecal samples were collected from 153 clinically normal laboratory dogs at an academic research facility and a local laboratory dog supplier. We used 3 diagnostic tests evaluated in parallel to determine test positivity to each organism: a human point-of-care coproantigen test, a direct immunofluorescent assay, and an in-house polymerase chain reaction. Dogs were significantly more likely to test positive for (45%) than (7%) ( < 0.01). Dogs that were 18 mo of age or younger had 3 times the odds ( = 0.009) of subclinical infection compared with older dogs. We found no significant relationship between age and prevalence. Dogs with hard feces (fecal score 1-2) at the time of screening had 0.34 times lower odds ( = 0.049) of testing positive for than dogs with normal feces, but no statistically significant relationship was found between fecal score and -positive test status. With these findings, we demonstrated the value of considering age and fecal score when choosing which dogs to screen for subclinical . Additional studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to determine the relationship between age and fecal score and subclinical infection.