Infectivity of Ancylostoma caninum in dogs by different routes of inoculation.

Infectivity of A. caninum in dogs inoculated with 500 larvae by different routes (percutaneous, subcutaneous, intravenous, per os, through a stomach tube and foot pad) was studied by ascertaining the worm burden at necropsy 21-27 days post-infection. Infection through foot-pads yielded the maximum number of worms. The percentage of worm establishment using foot-pad inoculation was 73.8%, followed by subcutaneous (49.0%), percutaneous (45.0%) and per os (35.0%) routes. These results show that active penetration of the larvae through skin and particularly foot-pad is the most favourable mode of infection of dogs.