No abstract

Toxocariasis is a worldwide distributed zoonotic disease. Soil contaminated with Toxocara eggs appears to be the main source of infection for humans. The aim of our study was to estimate the environmental contamination with Toxocara eggs in public areas in northeastern Poland followed by the assessment of seroprevalence of toxocariasis in the children's population inhabiting the areas. A total of 168 soil samples were collected in June and September from public areas, and 28 from patients' residences. They were all examined for Toxocara eggs using the centrifugal flotation technique. Two-step serological tests comprising enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) were performed in 190 children aged 2-17 without any symptoms of toxocariasis. The positive samples accounted for 36 and 32 % in the urban area, 39 and 18 % in the suburbs, and 39 and 46 % in parks, for June and September, respectively. All the sites located near the patients' residences with confirmed persistent toxocariasis were found contaminated with Toxocara eggs. A significant drop in the mean number of eggs was noted in the suburbs after summer (0.64 vs 0.18, p < 0.05). High and constant contamination was documented in soil from urban sandboxes and parks. The overall seroprevalence in children tested for toxocariasis was 4.2 % as determined by ELISA and WB (3.0 % in preschool children and 7.7 % in school children). The current study revealed high contamination of public areas in northeastern Poland with Toxocara eggs as well as marked seroprevalence in asymptomatic children. There is an urgent need to introduce and promote preventive health measures to limit spread of toxocariasis.

Zoosporic fungi growing on the specimens of certain fish species recently introduced to Polish waters. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 32(2): 117-125. Mycoflora developing on some fish species, recently introduced to Polish waters, has not been known. The authors incubated muscles of four fish species (monkey goby, Neogobius fluviatilis; racer goby, N. gymnotrachelus; Chinese sleeper, Perccottus glenii; and stone moroko, Pseudorasbora parva caught in the drainage area of the Bug River) in water taken from 6 different places. A total of 59 fungus species were found to grow on fish muscles studied:

The authors investigated the mycoflora developing on t he eggs of six species of acipenserid fishes.

To determine types of fungi in the water and associated with the benthic amphipod Diporeia spp., samples were collected at various depths in Lake Michigan in an area where the Diporeia population was in a severe state of decline. No fungi were found associated with living, freshly-dead, or dried Diporeia cultured separately from Lake Michigan water. When dead Diporeia and other organic substrates (snake skin and hemp seeds) were used to grow fungi in Lake Michigan water, a rich and diverse fungal and water mold community was revealed. A total of 31 species were found, with the most common genera being Achlya, Aphanomyces, Myzocytium, and Pythium. In general, species were homogeneously distributed in the water; that is, few differences were found in species richness between nearshore (10-15 m) and offshore (60-80 m) waters, and between near-surface (1 m) and near-bottom waters (1 m off bottom). Sampling occurred during the unstratified period (April and October) to maximize the number of species collected, which may have contributed to the uniform spatial pattern observed. While conclusions must be placed in context with our methods of detection, we found no evidence that a fungal infestation was associated with Diporeia in this region of the lake.