Soil contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs in the public parks from three areas of Khorram Abad, Iran.

Toxocariasis is a parasitic zoonose caused by the infection of larval nematode Toxocara species. A total of 285 soil samples from January to March 2009 in 18 public parks were collected to test for soil contamination with Toxocara eggs. Soil samples were investigated for the present of Toxocara eggs using sucrose flotation method. Distribution of Toxocara spp. eggs in samples collected from public parks was 63.3%. The highest number of eggs recovered from 200 g of soil was 128. A total 304 eggs were recovered and 42.1% fully developed to embryonated egg stages. The contamination rate in second region in the studied areas was higher than the other regions. A similar tendency was observed in parks size, so that parks higher than 10,000 m2 were more highly contaminated. The present investigation clearly shows that public parks have been contaminated with Toxocara eggs in Khorram Abad, suggesting that care should be taken when using public parks.