Soil contamination by zoonotic parasites in leisure areas: an integrative review

Abstract

Enteropasites are a risk to both human and animal health, and soil is an important route for their propagation and perpetuation, due to the easy animal access to leisure environments. Furthermore, the contamination of these areas is a public health problem, due to the high number of people who visit these places and can acquire these parasitoses. The purpose of this study was to research information described in the scientific literature on the prevalence of parasites with zoonotic potential in leisure areas, their distribution and associated factors. This is an integrative review of the literature in which scientific studies on parasites of zoonotic potential in leisure areas were selected from the Virtual Health Library, with MEDLINE and LILACS as its database, in addition to PUBMED, SCIELO and “Periódicos Capes” published between 2010 and 2020 in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Eleven articles were selected from the 494 found after applying criteria for inclusion, exclusion and content evaluation. Ancylostoma spp. and Toxocara spp. proved to be widely distributed, and soil contamination by parasites is directly linked to the presence of animals in these environments, due to their feces and favorable environmental conditions.