Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Sep;46(3):139-43.
doi: 10.3347/kjp.2008.46.3.139.

Toxocariasis and ingestion of raw cow liver in patients with eosinophilia

Dongil Choi  1 , Jae Hoon Lim, Dong-Chull Choi, Seung Woon Paik, Sun-Hee Kim, Sun Huh
Affiliations

Toxocariasis and ingestion of raw cow liver in patients with eosinophilia

Dongil Choi et al. Korean J Parasitol. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Ingestion of raw animal liver has been suggested as a possible mode of infection of human toxocariasis. We evaluated the relationship between toxocariasis and the ingestion of raw meat in patients with eosinophilia of unknown etiology. The study population consisted of 120 patients presenting with peripheral blood eosinophilia (>500 cells/microliter or >10% of the white blood cell count). They were divided into 2 groups: 104 seropositive patients based on a Toxocara excretory-secretory IgG ELISA and 16 seronegative patients. While 25.0% of seronegative patients had a recent history of eating raw cow liver, 87.5% of seropositive patients had this history. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that a recent history of eating raw cow liver was related to an increased risk of toxocariasis. Collectively, it is proposed that raw cow liver is a significant infection source of toxocariasis in the patients with eosinophilia of unknown etiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Glickman LT, Schantz PM. Epidemiology and pathogenesis of zoonotic toxocariasis. Epidemiol Rev. 1981;3:230–250. - PubMed
    1. Gillespie SH, Hawkey PM. Medical Parasitology. 1st ed. New York, USA: Oxford University Perss Inc; 1995. pp. 177–183.
    1. Lee KT, Min HK, Chung PR, Chang JK. Studies on the inducing possibility of human visceral larva migrans associated with eating habit of raw liver of domestic animals. Korean J Parasitol. 1976;14:51–60. - PubMed
    1. Pahari TK, Sasmal NK. Experimental infection of mice with Toxocara canis larvae obtained from Japanese quails. Int J Parasitol. 1990;20:263–264. - PubMed
    1. Pahari TK, Sasmal NK. Experimental infection of Japanese quail with Toxocara canis larvae through earthworms. Vet Parasitol. 1991;39:337–340. - PubMed

Publication types