Toxocara spp.

• Toxocariasis is a zoonotic disease that presents a public health problem, with stray dogs and cats common in urban areas
• Toxocara canis are roundworms found in dogs
• Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati complete their life cycle in dogs and cats, with adult worms establishing in the small intestine
• Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati are transmitted to noncanid mammals or carried by earthworms, ants, and other soil dwelling invertebrates through ingestion of organs and muscle tissue of paratenic hosts
• Female Toxocara worms produce about 200,000 eggs per day, which are shed in an unembryonated form but become infective after 2 weeks to several months
• Embryonated Toxocara eggs are resistant to freezing, moisture, and extreme pH levels
• • Neurological toxocariasis is one of the causes of encephalitis due to the migration of larvae to the brain
• Visceral Larva migrans result from migration and subsequent death of larvae in different tissues and organs, producing an intense inflammatory response manifested as eosinophilic granulomas

  
  

  Liver, lungs, CNS, and eyes are the most sensitive to Visceral Larva migrans
• Diagnosis in toxocara spp. methods include:

  • Detection of larva through biopsy tissue
  • IgG ELISA
  • PCR
  • Medical imaging techniques such as CT and MRI
• Toxocara cati are roundworms found in cats
• • Covert Toxocariasis is a less specific syndrome where most patients are asymptomatic
• • Ocular larva migrans occurs in children 5 to 10 years old, presenting with unilateral visual impairment sometimes with strabismus