The authors have done extensive research with a large number of soil samples tested from a big area (over 200 sq km) of four urban districts. Genus specific (Toxocara spp.) primers were used to detect Toxocara DNA in the sediment obtained in the procedure of Toxocara eggs recovery from soil samples. The influence of land use on Toxocara eggs distribution was evaluated by mean Maximum Entropy Modelling and Jackknife test to estimate the importance of variables used in the model and receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve) analysis to indicate the model performance.
       Among risk variables the authors studied land use types (foci of human habitation, industrial/commercial land, gravel/sand, wood land, grass land) and soil characteristics (temperature, humidity, permeability, acidity and alkalinity, bulk density, organic matter and heavy metals content). These soil physical properties/composition may affect survival time of Toxocara eggs, but cannot influence the contamination of soil with the eggs. So taking them into account to evaluate the distribution of Toxocara eggs is not appropriate (accordingly to correctly stated objective of the study).
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