**6. Comprehensive control of toxocariosis**

The main role in the control of toxocariosis falls on the veterinarian, who is responsible for the diagnosis and deworming programs in dogs and cats, as well as the awareness and health education of pet owners so that they are aware of the threat of this and other infectious diseases from pets to humans. Periodic deworming of dogs and cats is an effective strategy to reduce the worm burden and, therefore, the number of eggs in the environment [98]. Puppies and kittens must be dewormed (piperazine, ivermectin, mebendazole, pyrantel, and febantel, among others) at

one month of age, and the treatment should be repeated at least twice in 15 days. In adult dogs, coproparasitoscopic examinations (Faust technique) should be carried out every 6 months, and positive dogs should be dewormed, with special care for dogs with known predatory habits. There are no effective antiparasitic agents against somatic larvae of *Toxocara* sp. In adult female dogs and cats, therefore, to reduce transplacental and/or lactogenic transmission to their puppies, it is necessary to reduce the number of infective eggs in the environment where they live.

The main way of infection in humans is the ingestion of infective eggs (L3 passive) that contaminate their environment. The fecal of dogs and, to a lesser extent, of cats in the soil of public parks, gardens, ridges, and rural areas, among others, is the cause of the gradual accumulation of infective eggs of *Toxocara* sp. in these places. Due to its high resistance, there are no chemical products capable of inactivating these eggs in the soil without seriously affecting other organisms and damaging the ecosystem. Therefore, one of the most important strategies for the control of environmental contamination is the immediate collection of dog feces eliminated during walks and its subsequent disposal in the drainage. It should always be considered that puppies and kittens are the main egg eliminators; however, adult dogs can also eventually eliminate eggs [99].

One of the risk factors most frequently associated with human toxocariosis is ownership of dogs or cats. For this reason, it is necessary to wash the floors daily with soap and water inside the houses or patios where the dogs live and defecate to detach the infective eggs from the surfaces and achieve their mechanical dragging to the drainage, considering that the infective eggs resist most commercial disinfectants. In addition, due to the possible presence of infective eggs attached to pet hair, it is necessary to periodically bathe and brush dogs and cats to avoid the presence of *Toxocara* eggs or other parasites in the hair.

Drainage water contaminated with *Toxocara* eggs can reach places where vegetables are grown or there may be dogs that defecate in these places, so vigorous washing of vegetables with drinking water is essential, especially those that are eaten raw and are grown at ground level (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and strawberries, among many others) to reduce the risk of ingestion of infective eggs by humans. Another source of infection in humans is the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat or viscera of paratenic hosts infected with somatic larvae (chickens, pigs, cattle, and ducks, among others) in traditional dishes, so it is suggested that this type of dish is cooked with meat from animals raised in conditions free of the parasite. Cooking meat kills somatic larvae. At the government level, it is necessary to implement educational campaigns for the management of pet feces, knowledge of this and other zoonotic diseases, and the control of feral dogs and cats.
