Circulation of Toxocara spp. in suburban and rural ecosystems in the Slovak Republic

Toxocara spp., the common roundworms of domestic and wild animals, are the causative agents of larval toxocarosis in humans. The migration of Toxocara larvae in men causes clinical syndrome, called larva migrans visceralis or larva migrans ocularis. The objective of the present work was to investigate the prevalence of toxocarosis in dogs, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and small mammals in the Slovak Republic. T. canis infection was diagnosed in 16.6% out of 145 dogs examined. Young animals showed significantly higher positivity (50.0%) than adults (12.4%). Coprological investigation of 310 red foxes showed 8.1% prevalence of T. canis, with higher occurrence in animals from rural conditions (8.6%) than from suburban environment (5.6%). Out of 710 small mammals examined, anti-Toxocara antibodies were detected in 7.7% of the animals. The most frequently seropositive species was Apodemus agrarius (15.9%). Seropositivity of small mammals from suburban localities was higher (10%) compared with rural areas (5.8%), with adult animals exhibiting higher seropositivity (8.0%) than subadults (6.8%). Our results have confirmed the importance of dogs, red foxes and small mammals in circulation of this serious helminthozoonosis in suburban and rural ecosystems. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.