• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2002

Human toxocariasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the larva of toxocara canis or cati. It is one of the most commonly reported zoonotic helminth infection in the world. Human are infected mainly by the accidental ingestion of embryonated eggs due to the pica, geophagia, the consumption of contaminated raw vegetables and poor personal hygiene particularly in childhood. In adults, the consumption of raw meat from potential paratenic hosts e.g. chickens, lambs, rabbits and dogs is a major cause of human toxocariasis. The larva can reach various organs such as the liver, lung, brain, and eye by the hematogenous spread and cause visceral larva migrans. We experience a case of pulmonary infiltration with eosinophilia by visceral larva migrans after eating the raw liver and kidney of a dog.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.70-74
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• 2010

We report a familial case of visceral larva migrans of Toxocara canis after eating raw chicken liver. A 9-year-old female ate raw chicken liver with her father and older brother and was admitted to the hospital with periumbilical pain, a mild fever, and headache. The total peripheral eosinophil count was 9,884/$mm^3$ and the total lgE concentration was 2,317 IU/dL. Chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans demonstrated multiple, poorly-defined, small, nodular lesions scattered in the liver and lung parenchyma. Toxocara ELISA and Western blot tests were positive in the patient, and her father and brother. A liver biopsy revealed extensive eosinophilic infiltrations in the portal and lobular areas. She took albendazole for 5 days and was discharged in good condition. These results suggest that clinicians should consider foodborne toxocariasis in patients with multiple, small nodules in the liver and lung parenchyma with eosinophilia and a history of raw meat ingestion.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.1 s.141
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• pp.19-26
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• 2007

This study describes the isolation of a Toxocara canis species-specific excretory-secretory(ES) antigen and the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) based on this antigen. Analysis of the ES antigens of T. canis, Toxocara vitulorum, Ascaris lumbricoides and Necator americanus larval antigen was performed by SDS-PAGE followed by western blotting. A 57 kDa T. canis-specific antibody fraction(TcES-57) was identified by western blotting and labelling with anti-Toxocara antibodies(from experimental rabbits and human patients) and tracing with anti-human or anti-rabbit peroxidase conjugate. No protein fraction of 57 kDa was detected in ES or larval antigens collected from T. canis, T. vitulorum, A. lumbricoides and N. americanus. Using TcES-57, a specific anti-serum was produced in rabbits and a double sandwich ELISA was developed. This test was validated using known seropositive sera from toxocariasis patients, sera from A. lumbricoides or N. americanus patients, and 50 serum samples from cats. These tests revealed that TcES-57 antigen is specific to T. canis infection and does not cross react with sera of other related infections. Thus, ELISA based on TcES-57 antigen was proven to be an effective tool in the diagnosis of toxocariasis and studies on the role of T. canis in the epidemiology of human toxocariasis.