A study on the species composition of Toxocara spp. in infected home cats in Ho Chi Minh City

Toxocariasis is defined as a zoonotic disease caused by species of Toxocara genus, including Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati, which are potentially infectious to human. Toxocara malaysiensis, a roundworm in cat with similar morphology as Toxocara cati, was initially identified in Malaysia and as a common ascaridoid of cats in Hanoi, Vietnam. This study was conducted to investigate the species composition of Toxocara spp. in infected home cats in Ho Chi Minh City by morphological, and moculecular biology method, reconstruct the phylogenetic tree based on atp6 gene using MEGA 6.0 sofware. Toxocara spp. were identified including 4 individuals of T. cati species and 1 individual of T. malaysiensis species. Genetic distance between T. malaysiensis in this study and one from China was 0%. This study indicated the detection of Toxocara malaysiensis for the first time in Ho Chi Minh City.