Toxocariasis
Overview
Toxocariasis is an infection caused by small worms found in the poo of some dogs, cats and foxes. It's rare but can sometimes cause serious problems.
Symptoms
Toxocariasis only causes symptoms if the worm eggs hatch and the larvae spread in your body. Depending on where the larvae spread, symptoms can include: a high temperaturecoughing or wheezingstomach achean itchy rasheye pain or rednesschanges to your sight, such as seeing small dots or lines (floaters) or flashes of lightloss of vision (usually in 1 eye)
Treatment
Toxocariasis only needs to be treated if it causes symptoms. The main treatment is medicine to kill the worm larvae. If the larvae spread to your eye, steroid medicine may be used to help stop damage to your eye. Sometimes you may also need surgery to remove the larvae or treat any problems with your vision.