A study on Toxocara canis (Ascaridida: Ascaridae) infection in dogs and soil of public parks of Piranshahr city, West Azarbaijan province, Iran

Toxocara canis is one of the most frequent small intestinal helminths of dogs with zoonotic importance through which the soil is contaminated with the eggs through the fecal excretion. This study was carried out to determine T. canis infection in dogs and soil of public parks of Piranshahr city using fecal examination. In the present study, a total of 150 feces and 150 soil samples were randomly collected from Piranshahr city in the period April 2012 to April 2013. The specimens were subjected for floation using Clayton-lane method. The average rate of infection in examined dogs and soil was respectively 31.3% and 8%. The infection in stray dogs, sheepdogs and watchdogs were respectively 32.14%, 25.7%, 33.89%. The infection had significant difference between age groups of <1 year-old (54.54%) and >1 years-old (22.44%) (p<0.05). The infection rate in male dogs (38.46%) was significantly higher than female dogs (25%) (p<0.05). The highest infection rate was in spring (42.1%) and the least in fall (24.32%) (p<0.05). The average egg number per gram of feces (EPG) and soil were 2195.7±983.7 and 5±3.6, respectively. The EPG had significant difference with examined animals. Of 150 examined soil samples, 12(8%) were positive for eggs of T. canis. The highest infection rate was found to be from soils of slaughterhouse area (16%, EPG 5±3.6) (p<0.05). The highest infection rate was in spring (13.15%) which had significant difference with other seasons (p<0.05). The results showed that T. canis was parasite in dogs and soil of different areas of Piranshahr city in which it could be of public health concern in the region.