Toxocara species environmental contamination of public spaces in New York City
Toxocara species environmental contamination of public spaces in New York City
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pntd.0008249
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Pollack, Henry
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tyungu, Donna L.;McCormick, David;Pollack, Henry
在美国，由于人类弓形虫病在社会经济弱势群体中的高血清阳性率，以及与认知和发育迟缓的可能联系，人类弓形虫病已被确定为一种诊断不足的寄生虫人兽共患病和具有重大公共卫生重要性的健康差异。通过显微镜和定量PCR，我们检测到弓首蛔虫卵在纽约市公共场所广泛存在，有证据表明所有五个行政区都存在显著的污染水平。布朗克斯的污染率最高（66.7%），而曼哈顿的污染率最低（29.6%）。此外，仅在布朗克斯游乐场发现感染性鸡蛋，超过70%的鸡蛋以胚胎形式回收，鸡蛋负担最高（p = 0.0365）。所有其他行政区都有感染前未胚化的虫卵。猫弓蛔虫（Toxocara cati）是优势种。这些结果表明，野生或未经处理的猫在纽约市代表了一个重要的环境污染源。这些发现表明，人类弓蛔虫病已成为纽约市一个重要的健康差距，在公共场所，特别是在较贫困的社区，存在感染弓蛔虫的风险。需要减少环境弓蛔虫污染。其他严格的公共卫生干预措施应探索进一步的方法来阻断向人类的传播。
Human toxocariasis has been identified as an under-diagnosed parasitic zoonosis and health disparity of significant public health importance in the United States due to its high seropositivity among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and possible links to cognitive and developmental delays. Through microscopy and quantitative PCR, we detected that Toxocara eggs are widespread in New York City public spaces, with evidence of significant levels of contamination in all five boroughs. The Bronx had the highest contamination rate (66.7%), while Manhattan had the lowest contamination rate (29.6%). Moreover, infective eggs were only found in the Bronx playgrounds, with over 70% of eggs recovered in embryonic form and the highest egg burden (p = 0.0365). All other boroughs had eggs in the pre-infectious, unembronyated form. Toxocara cati, the cat roundworm, was the predominant species. These results suggest that feral or untreated cats in New York City represent a significant source of environmental contamination. These findings indicate that human toxocariasis has emerged as an important health disparity in New York City, with ongoing risk of acquiring Toxocara infection in public spaces, especially in poorer neighborhoods. There is a need for reducing environmental Toxocara contamination. Additional rigorous public health interventions should explore further approaches to interrupt transmission to humans.