Strayed dogs sentinels of Trichinella britovi infection in Kosovo

Trichinellosis is one of the most widespread parasitic zoonoses in the world. Over the past decade, Eastern Europe has experienced a re-emergence of trichinellosis, connected with the social, political and economic changes of the 1990s. A high prevalence of Trichinella infection in domestic animals and in humans has been reported in Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania and Croatia (Cuperlovic et al., 2005; Blaga et al., 2007). Between 2008 and 2010, the presence of trichinellosis was reported on animals in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bulgaria. Human cases of trichinellosis were also recently reported in Serbia and Montenegro, Bulgaria, Albania (OIE, WAHID database). Update data concerning Trichinella infection in animals and humans in Kosovo are not available. Kosovo is located in the heart of South East Europe, in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula. Kosovo is situated between the 42° and 44° parallels of Northern hemisphere and between the 20° and 22° meridians. Kosovo has common borders with the aforementioned countries of Eastern Europe. To improve the knowledge of the epidemiology of trichinellosis in this area, the detection of Trichinella spp. was performed on muscles collected on carcasses of stray dogs from the outskirts of the city of Mitrovica, north Kosovo.