ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2020
Toxocara species environmental contamination of public spaces in New York City.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Awareness of Microbiological Safety in Playgrounds Amid Rising Antibiotic Resistance.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Human toxocariasis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Pooled it
- One Health approach on toxocariasis and ophthalmic assessment in owners and dogs.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Zoonotic endoparasites and Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity in free-roaming cats (Felis catus) from New York City boroughs.PloS one · 2026Article
- Using pet insurance claims to predict occurrence of vector-borne and zoonotic disease in humans in the United States.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Park entrances, commonly contaminated with infective Toxocara canis eggs, present a risk of zoonotic infection and an opportunity for focused intervention.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Detection of Parasite DNA in Soil Samples from Rural Yucatan, Mexico.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Year after year: RecurrentInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Article
- Comparison of different diagnostic protocols for the detection of Toxocara spp. in faecal samples of cats and dogs.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Molecular Testing of Environmental Samples as a Potential Source to Estimate Parasite Infection.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Article
- Parasitic Contamination of Soil in the Southern United States.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Environmental Detection of Parasites in the Marginalized Paiute Reservations Compared to a Nearby Area.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Molecular Determination ofJournal of parasitology research · 2024Article
- A Study on the Monitoring ofHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Metallic Nanoparticles and Core-Shell Nanosystems in the Treatment, Diagnosis, and Prevention of Parasitic Diseases.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Toxocara canis seropositivity in different exposure groups in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Northwest Pakistan.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of pets: Retrospective study at the veterinary teaching hospital, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.Veterinary world · 2023Article
- From fox to fork? Toxocara contamination of spinach grown in the south of England, UK.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Article
- A repeated cross-sectional study of intestinal parasites in Texas shelter dogs using fecal flotation and saline sedimentation.Parasitology research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.