Order: Ascaridida

Family: Toxocarida Genus: Toxocara Species: T. canis

Geography: Worldwide

Both males and females have three prominent lips Each lip has a dentigerous (teeth bearing) ridge

Eggs are 75-90 micrometers

Males:

embryonated when laid Have pits Very resistant to various weather and chemical conditions

Females:

4-6 cm long

6.5 cm long can be as long as 15 cm The vulva is about one-third the body length The uteri can contain up to 27 million eggs at a time.

Toxocara egg

Larvated eggs

Larvae

Adults

Humans become infected by ingesting infective eggs, often due to close contact with puppies or from egg infected with soil

Transuterine transmission
puppy can get from mother during

pregnancy or from mothers milk.

Definitive host: Dog or other canid Paratenic hosts: mice, rabbits, and monkeys

Accidental host: Humans

Toxocara cati
Very similar to Toxocara canis One of the most common feline helminths

Toxocara canis causes toxocariasis: a zoonotic infection caused by the parasitic roundworms found in the intestine of dogs.

1) Ocular larva migrans (OLM): Toxocara infections can cause an eye disease which can cause blindness.

OLM occurs when a microscopic worm enters the eye Each year more than 700 people infected with Toxocara experience permanent partial loss of vision. OLM occurs when larvae enter the eye. This results in a loss of vision or severe ocular inflammation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8K9R2M-LfE

2) Visceral larva migrans (VLM):

Repeated Toxocara infections can cause a disease that causes swelling of the bodys organs or central nervous system. When the larval parasite migrates through the human body it is known as larval migrans.

In the UK alone there are over 300 cases of toxocariasis diagnosed each year.

 Symptoms

VLM: include abdominal pain, fever, coughing,

wheezing and asthma

OLM: include ophthalmologic lesions

Often found in children aged between 2 & 7

Can also be asymptomatic

Is usually made by serology or the finding of larvae in biopsy or autopsy specimens. ELISA
positive in 78% of those with visceral larva

migrans positive in 45% of those with ocular toxocariasi

Cross-section of Toxocara Larvae in liver tissue

Prednisone

Albendazole or Mebendazole

Dont allow dogs to lick your face Wash hands after playing with pets Avoid infected areas De-worm dogs

Small children are susceptible Prelevant because every puppy is assumed to have this helminth

http://course1.winona.edu/kbates/ascarids.htm

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~ceb/Students/Toxocara.htm
http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/html/Toxocariasis.htm http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/i nformation/Toxocara_canis.html http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfil e=htm/bc/23505.htm http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S071777122008000100012&script=sci_arttext