Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the application of smart collar in dog deworming in echinococcosis source control.
Methods By Simple random sampling, the dogs were divided into two groups. The dog in smart collar group (intervention group) were given smart collars with the function of automatic delivery of deworming baits once a month, and the Internet of Things technology was used for remote management and control. The dogs in manual deworming group (control group) were dewormed by manual delivery of deworming baits. The positive rate of Echinococcus antigen in canine feces was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and software SPSS 20.0 was used for data process, and generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyze the deworming effect.
Results In smart collar group, the consecutive wearing rates of smart collars were 100.00% (421/421), 96.20% (405/405/100), 89.31% (376/421), 84.56% (356/421), 94.06% (396/421) respectively at the beginning, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months of deworming, and the cumulative completion rates of automatic delivering baits were 74.36% (313/421), 91.37% (1154/1263), 84.76% (2141/2526), 80.15% (3037/3789), 74.43% (3760/5052). After 12 times of deworming, the positive rates of Echinococcus antigen in canine feces were significantly reduced in both smart collar group and manual deworming group (χ2=20.723, P=0.014; χ2=26.145, P=0.002), and the protective effect in smart collar group was stronger than in manual deworming group with a 27% lower risk of infection (95% confidence interval: 0.556−0.959).
Conclusion As a new deworming tool, deworming with the smart collar maintains a high deworming coverage rate and deworming completion rate, which can effectively reduce the infection risk of Echinococcus in dogs. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the use of smart collar in dog deworming and evaluate its public health significance.