Toxocariasis

A cosmopolitan zoonotic disease caused in humans by the accidental ingestion of eggs or larvae of the ascarids <i>Toxocara canis</i> or <i>Toxocara cati</i>, the common round worm of dogs and cats respectively. The infestation can be asymptomatic or can present as visceral larva migrans caused by larval migration through major organs such as liver, lungs or central nervous system (manifesting with fever, cough, hepatomegaly, pneumonia or rarely encephalitis), or as ocular larva migrans caused by larval migration to the eye (manifesting as ocular inflammation and retinal scaring).