In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
| The message
| from Magwitch contains these words:
|
| Try Googling and see how many children are hospitalised by hedgehog/fox poo
| per annum, why don't you?
|
| AFAIK, the statistics for toxocara in humans do not differentiate
| between which host the problem came from.
|
| http://www.provet.co.uk/health/disea...ocaracanis.htm
|
| gives a 35% to 55% incidence of toxocara in UK foxes.

A quick scan indicates that hedgehogs are not a significant carrier
of Toxocara species, but foxes, dogs and cats are.

| Since foxes are known to be toxocara (and hydatid, and salmonella) hosts
| and shed both worms and eggs in their pooh, there is some risk to
| children playing on heavily-poohed lawn; ...

Salmonella is good for you :-) Seriously, except for the very
young, very old and seriously ill, it is not a significant problem.
Please don't copy the hysterical tabloids (including some of the
medical journals).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.