title: The relationship of public park accessibility to dogs to the presence of Toxocara species ova in the soil.
abstract: This survey was conducted to determine prevalence of Toxocara spp. ova in public parks in Erzurum, Turkey. A total of 214 soil samples were collected from July 2007 to June 2008 in 36 public parks, of which 28 were unfenced and 8 were fenced. Prevalence of Toxocara spp. was 64.28% in unfenced public parks, while no contamination was observed fenced public parks (p<0.001). Average number of Toxocara spp. ova was 1.43 per 50 g sand ranging from 1 to 7. Moreover, soils from unfenced public parks were contaminated with Taeniid spp. ova (3.12%). In conclusion, public parks and/or playgrounds should be fenced to prevent fecal contamination, suggesting that a more frequent surveillance should be performed and preventive measures should be taken and enforced by local governments to reduce likelihood of zoonoses in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey. hamzaavcioglu@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Avcioglu
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Balkaya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004285:Dogs; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D015995:Prevalence; D011998:Recreation; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology*; D014119:Toxocara / Q000502:physiology*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D012987:Soil