Toxocara canis
Toxocara canis
Taxonomy
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Nematoda
- Class Secernentea
- Order Ascaridida
- Superfamily Ascaridoidea
- Family Ascarididae
- Genus Toxocara
Final host
Dog, fox, wild canids
Morphology
Adults: large (≈ 10 - 18 cm long, according to sex) white- cream-coloured worms The mouth is surrounded by three large lips and the cuticle is expanded anteriorly forming a pair or large cervical alae The tail of the male has a terminal narrow appendage, caudal papillae and two spicules Female genital organs extend anteriorly and posteriorly to the vulva Eggs are medium sized (≈ 90 x 75 µm), dark brown and subglobular with a thick rough pitted shell and granular unsegmented dark contents that normally fill the whole inner volume
Cycle
Direct with ascaroid migration (larvae travel by blood-stream via liver, lungs and trachea to small intestine) Transplacental and transmammary transmission in pregnant bitch Ingestion of paratenic hosts induces direct intestinal route without migration
Location
Small intestine
Feeding
Intestinal content
Diagnostic
Eggs
Transmission
L3 within the egg L3 within a paratenic host L3 transplacental or transmammary route
