ABSTRACT
Human hookworm infection is a soil-transmitted intestinal helminthiasis caused by either Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale [1]. In a few focal areas, intestinal infections with the canine hookworms Ancylostoma ceylanicum and Ancylostoma caninum occur as a consequence of zoonotic transmission [2]. Hookworms are one of the most ubiquitous infectious agents of humankind; some estimates suggest that as many 1.2 billion people are infected worldwide [3]. The infection is found wherever rural poverty intersects with a tropical or subtropical climate and adequate moisture. In the Western Hemisphere, hookworm is common in the rural areas of Central America and the tropical regions of South America, including Brazil and Venezuela. In Asia, hookworm is highly endemic in China, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Hookworm is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt. N. americanus is the predominant species worldwide, except in some northerly latitudes of China and India, Argentina and Paraguay, and in Egypt, where A. duodenale is focally endemic [1]. Mixed infections with both major hookworm species are common. Human infections with A. ceylanicum and A. caninum have been sporadically reported from Asia and Australia, respectively.
