Toxocara

A genus of ascarid nematodes, chiefly found in carnivores, that cause toxocariasis. [G. toxon, bow, + kara, head]

- T. canis the common ascarid species in the small intestine of the dog, where prenatal infection is a common mode of infection of pups; it is also reported in cats, wolves, foxes, coyotes, and badgers; the second-stage larva is the most frequent cause of visceral larva migrans in the liver of children.

- T. mystax a common ascarid species of cats, but not reported from dogs; prenatal infection of kittens does not occur, infection being by infective eggs, which hatch in the intestine, releasing second-stage larvae, which then undergo migration through the heart, lung, trachea, mouth, and gut, as with Ascaris lumbricoides in man; mice and other vertebrates, and also some invertebrates ( e.g., earthworms, cockroaches) may serve as transport hosts, in which the migrating larvae encyst in the tissues.

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Tox·o·cara .täk-sə-'kar-ə n a genus of nematode worms of the family Ascaridae including the common ascarids (T. canis and T. cati) of the dog and cat

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n.

a genus of large nematode worms that are intestinal parasites of vertebrates. T. canis and T. cati, the common roundworms of dogs and cats respectively, have life cycles similar to that of the human roundworm, Ascaris. See toxocariasis.

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Tox·o·ca·ra (tok″so-karґə) a genus of nematodes of the family Ascarididae.