Toxocarosis in the South of Russia: epidemiological and environmental aspects

Toxocarosis is a widespread parasitic infection and a significant healthcare challenge. Humans can be infected through contacts with animals and soil contaminated by eggs of Toxocara сanis. Children aged 3–5 years are particularly vulnerable population because of their active contact with soil. Veterinary specialists, people working in dog shelters, zoos, groceries, and people who have gardens are also at risk of infection. Objective. To analyze the epidemiological situation of toxocarosis in the South of Russia. Materials and methods. The Laboratory of Sanitary and Parasitological Monitoring, Medical Parasitology, and Immunology of Rostov Research Institute of Microbiology and Parasitology, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, has been continuously monitoring the situation with parasitoses in the Southern Federal District for many years. A total of 1,026 samples of soil were collected in 2012–2020. We performed serological and epidemiological examination for toxocarosis among residents of this Federal District. Results. We found that the number of seropositive individuals and soil contamination with the eggs of Toxocara spp. in the Southern Federal District were high and were not consistent with the official figures of toxocarosis incidence. This suggests that the true level of toxocarosis incidence is significantly higher than that officially reported for this territory. Conclusion. Our study confirmed that environment contamination with the eggs of Toxocara spp. is the main risk factor for toxocarosis in humans. Key words: toxocarosis, Toxocara spp., epidemiological situation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, sanitary and parasitological examination, soil