Prevalence of Toxocara canis infection in dogs and Toxocara egg environmental contamination in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines.

ABSTRACT: Toxocara canis is a parasitic gastrointestinal nematode of dogs causing toxocariasis in humans, a neglected tropical disease. This study examined the burden of T. canis infection in dogs and egg contamination in school playgrounds and public parks in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. Fecalysis and egg detection in soils were performed to determine the parasite prevalence in dogs and the environment. In addition, pet owner's survey and GIS mapping were employed to identify the risk factors of infection and map the parasite distribution. Fecalysis revealed a T. canis prevalence of 64.44% (95% CI: 48.78-78.13) at the barangay level and 17.96% (95% CI: 14.12-21.80) at the animal level. Rural areas showed a much higher T. canis prevalence than urban. Factors associated with high T. canis infection included dog's age, specifically puppy (2-8 mo) relative to young (> 8-24 mo) [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.282; 95% CI: 1.137-4.579; p = 0.020] and adult (> 24 mo) (AOR: 3.542; 95% CI: 1.714-7.319; p = 0.001), access to dirty water (AOR: 2.749; 95% CI: 1.575-4.798; p < 0.001), and non-deworming (AOR: 2.961; 95%: CI 1.009-8.684; p = 0.048). Furthermore, we observed high Toxocara egg contamination in school playgrounds and public parks, with a prevalence of 51.11% (95% CI: 35.77-66.3) at the barangay level and 15.45% (95% CI: 10.67-20.23) in soil samples. This epidemiological study is the first in the central Philippines to report a high burden of T. canis infection in dogs and the environment, thus providing crucial data that will help understand the epidemiology of toxocariasis.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12639-022-01525-y.

SUBMITTER: Conde MDP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9606188 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature