Ascarid

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This page quotes a published document. Everything below in quotation marks is copied word for word from https://capcvet.org/guidelines/ascarid/, published by CAPC and retrieved on 2026-09-16. The quotations are excerpts; the document itself is linked and is the authority. Nothing has been reworded.

This page quotes the Companion Animal Parasite Council guideline for Ascarid, section by section: the opening sentences of 8 sections, copied without change and linked to the guideline, which was retrieved on 2026-09-16. The guideline itself is the authority and carries the full text.

The guideline

Companion Animal Parasite Council, Ascarid, at https://capcvet.org/guidelines/roundworm/. Retrieved 2026-09-16. Each heading below is the guideline’s own, and the quotation under it is how that section begins. The full section, and the species tabs where the guideline gives them, are on the linked page.

Synopsis

CAPC Recommends CAPC recommends testing all dogs for ascarids by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects parasite DNA, are useful in identification of ascarids, where few to no eggs and few adult worms are present, infection with only young worms, or with single sex infections.

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Species

Toxocara canis Toxascaris leonina * Click here for recommendations on Baylisascaris

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Disease

Disease in dogs caused by infection with T. canis is most severe in young pups. This parasite is observed less commonly in dogs more than one year of age.

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Prevalence

Toxocara spp. are extremely common parasites of dogs and cats throughout the world. Surveys using samples collected from across the United States show that more than 30% of dogs younger than 6 months of age are shedding T. canis eggs, and some studies have shown that virtually all pups are born infected with T. canis .

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Diagnosis

CAPC recommends testing all dogs for ascarids by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects parasite DNA, are useful in identification of ascarids, where few to no eggs and few adult worms are present, infection with only young worms, or with single sex infections.

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Treatment

Fenbendazole, milbemycin oxime, moxidectin, and pyrantel pamoate are approved for the treatment of ascarid ( T. canis, T. cati, and/or Toxascaris leonina ) infections in dogs. Pyrantel is approved, in combinations with ivermectin or ivermectin and praziquantel, for treatment of T. canis and Toxascaris leonina infections in dogs.

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Control and Prevention

Puppies should be routinely dewormed beginning at 2 weeks of age, with deworming repeated every 2 weeks, until the animals are four to eight weeks of age and placed on a monthly product with efficacy against ascarids. To treat potential newly acquired infections, dogs should be maintained on monthly intestinal parasite control products with efficacy against ascarids.

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Public Health Considerations

Toxocara spp. are well-documented and important zoonotic disease agents. Infection with Toxocara spp. is most common in children and occurs upon ingestion of larvated eggs from a contaminated environment following dirt eating or other forms of pica.

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Sources

  • capc-roundwormCAPC · retrieved 2026-09-16
    CAPC Recommends CAPC recommends testing all dogs for ascarids by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects (Synopsis)

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