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
. 2017 Jan-Mar;12(1):136-142.

Detection of Toxocara spp. Eggs in the Soil of Public Places in and Around of Ardabil City, Northwestern Iran

Ali Pezeshki  1 , Ali Haniloo  1 , Asghar Alejafar  2 , Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin  2
Affiliations

Detection of Toxocara spp. Eggs in the Soil of Public Places in and Around of Ardabil City, Northwestern Iran

Ali Pezeshki et al. Iran J Parasitol. 2017 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Background: Human toxocariasis is contained in the list of neglected diseases. The infection occurs after ingestion of embryonated eggs in contaminated soil. The present study was carried out to estimate the extent of soil contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs in the public places.

Methods: Soil samples were collected randomly from 41 public places in various parts in and around of Ardabil, Iran, between March 2013 and March 2014. Data were examined by microscopy following sodium nitrate flotation.

Results: Of the 200 collected soil samples, 35 (17.5%) were positive for soil parasites. The eggs of Toxocara spp. were found in 14 (7%) soil samples.

Conclusion: This investigation gives baseline knowledge regarding soil contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs in Ardabil city and provides information for local control of toxocariasis.

Keywords: Eggs; Iran; Public places; Soil; Toxocara spp..

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1:
Fig. 1:
Map showing soil sampling in various parts of public places in Ardabil City, Iran
Fig. 2:
Fig. 2:
Eggs of Toxocara spp. isolated from the soil of Ardabil public places in floatation method
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Thomas D, Jeyathilakan N. Detection of Toxocara eggs in contaminated soil from various public places of Chennai city and detailed correlation with literature. J Parasit Dis. 2014; 38 (2): 174– 80. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Despommier D. Toxocariasis: Clinical aspects, epidemiology, medical ecology, and molecular aspects. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2003; 16 (2): 265– 72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee AC, Schantz PM, Kazacos KR, Montgomery SP, Bowman DD. Epidemiologic and zoonotic aspects of ascarid infections in dogs and cats. Trends Parasitol. 2010; 26 (4): 155– 61. - PubMed
    1. Sadjjadi SM, Khosravi M, Mehrabani D, Orya A. Seroprevalence of Toxocara infection in school children in Shiraz, southern Iran. J Trop Pediatr. 2000; 46 (6): 327– 30. - PubMed
    1. Harbinder S, Bali HS, Arvinder K. Prevalence of Toxocara spp. Eggs in the soil of public and private places in Ludhiana and Kellon area of Punjab, India. Epidemiol Sante Anim. 1997: 31– 2.

LinkOut - more resources