Hookworms are considered one of the most common groups of soil-transmitted nematode parasites of vertebrates. 
They cause causing serious iron-deficiency anemia and protein malnutrition in humans and domestic and wild mammals.
Two of the major genera,  Ancylostoma  and Necator, are responsible for considerable morbidity and socioeconomic burdens in humans.
 
Of these two genera, Ancylostoma hookworms are considered to be of greater medical and veterinary importance because of distribution, prevalence, and the abundance of zoonotic species.

The human-infecting ‘anthrophilic’ hookworm is represnted by  Ancylostoma duodenale (Dubini, 1843).

Many other species are considered ‘anthropozoonotic’ forms, capable of infecting and circulating among free-ranging wild hosts, some domestic hosts and humans.  They include Ancylostoma caninum (Ercolani, 1859), Ancylostoma braziliense Gomes de Faria, 1910 and Ancylostoma ceylanicum Looss, 1911.

About 35 other species of Ancylostoma represent the considerable diversity of the genus and are considered to be primarily of veterinary importance. Many host species are carnivores (Xie et al., 2017).