Toxocara canis infection in dogs in Beersheba, Israel

In the desert city of Beersheba, Israel, a survey was made of the infection rate of Toxocara canis in dogs. 3.0% of dogs destroyed at the municipal dog pound had intestinal T. canis. 7% of faecal samples gathered from day care centres throughout the city were shown to contain T. canis eggs. This low rate of infection could possibly be explained by the hot, arid climatic conditions which may render eggs non-infective or by the sandy soil in the area that may cover faeces containing T. canis ova and make the eggs unavailable to other dogs.