Adam is right !! I know Dr Guita Elefant ([email protected]) who has a lot of experience and I am sure you may contact her for help.
Should you wish to identifyToxocara morphologically, note that the outer part of the shell of the egg has a characteristic, pitted appearance (smooth if you are looking at an egg of Toxascaris). This pitting is clearly evident when the fine focus knob on the microscope is moved backwards and forwards. The egg of Baylisascaris (which would presumably not be found in your area) resembles that of Toxocara. Larvae of these helminths are inside the egg, and do not end up free in the soil like hookworm (Ancylostoma) larvae. The larva inside a Toxocara egg is referred to as a L2 larva, not a L3 larva, the latter being what occurs in the tissues of the vertebrate host after ingestion of eggs. However, the L3 hookworm larva is found in soil. So to be able to identify a Toxocara larva from an egg would seem to be unnecessary? Toxocara eggs obtained from dissected adult worms can certainly be embryonated in the laboratory in vitro. This is done in order to obtain antigen for immunological tests (we used to do it and subsequently export the antigen to the USA).
Thank you all..I suppose the easiest way to confirm the Toxocara species from the eggs is by molecular identification right.
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