Prevalence of Toxocara egg in public parks of Kermanshah city, the West of Iran

Toxocariasis is one of the most important parasitic and widespread infections which is caused by direct contact with dogs and cats or contact with sources contaminated with the parasite's eggs, such as soil and grass, in public places where dogs and cats travel, as well as the consumption of contaminated vegetables. The aim of this study was to investigate the contamination of soil and grass in different parks of Kermanshah, West of Iran, with Toxocara eggs. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 120 soil and 120 grass samples were collected from a total of 16 public parks and gardens in Kermanshah, then the parasitic contamination of soil and grass samples exanimated by flotation deposition method. Results showed that out of 16 parks studied, 15 parks were infected with Toxocara species eggs in terms of soil samples (93.7%) and 13 parks in terms of grass samples (81.2%). Also, the prevalence of infection with Toxocara species eggs was 70.8% in soil samples and 30.8% in grass samples. Rresults of this study showed that the contamination of Kermanshah parks with Toxocara species eggs is high, which increases the risk of toxocariasis in humans. Therefore, to reduce the risk of human infection, the need for control programs such as prevention of environmental contamination with parasite eggs, especially in public places such as public parks, with dog feces is recommended.