Toxoplasma gondii: infection among shelter and stray cats in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify possible infection of Toxoplasma gondii among cats in a shelter and a set of condominiums in the city of Rio de Janeiro, through changes to the cats' serological status between two different times in 2014 and 2015. One group was made up of captive cats at the municipal shelter and the other comprised stray cats that circulated in condominiums in the city. On the first occasion, cats were caught and tagged through application of microchips; in this manner, blood samples were obtained from 261 captive cats and 172 stray cats. On the second occasion, blood samples were obtained from 94 captive cats and 56 recaptured stray cats. The serological diagnosis was made by means of the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA) and indirect immunofluorescence reaction (IFAT) (cutoff ≥ 64). The frequency of T. gondii infection among the captive cats was 24.5% and among the stray cats, 18%. With the second analysis, it was possible to verify modifications to the serological status of anti-T. gondii antibodies, in 18% of both populations of animals. The presence of seroconversion shows that infection was possibly occurring in the region at the time of the study.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in outdoor dogs and cats in Bangkok, Thailand

“…However, these results should be interpreted with caution due to the short duration of the present study. Other studies detected changes in serological status in 9.1% (Afonso et al, 2006) and 18% (Pereira et al, 2018) of cats, but they had longer sampling intervals (11 years and 4-8 months, respectively). On the other hand, MAT titres were maintained over time in all seropositive individuals, except in one cat with a low titre (1:25) that had a negative result after approximately 1 month.…”

Toxoplasma gondii in domiciled dogs and cats in urban areas of Brazil: risk factors and spatial distribution

“…This restriction of the circulation environment may minimize the exposure of felines to the outdoor environment, possibly contaminated with T. gondii oocysts and inhabited by potential chronically infected intermediate hosts. It is important to highlight that the stray cat populations, resident in different areas of Rio de Janeiro city, are exposed to T. gondii, suggesting that these animals may be contributing to the contamination of the environment by oocysts in the study area [7,51,61].…”

“…For the detection of IgG anti-T. gondii antibodies, commercial anti-Cat IgG produced in goats, BioRad Ò and anti-Dog IgG produced in rabbit Sigma-Aldrich Ò conjugates diluted in Evans Blue solution were used. The samples were considered positive when total fluorescence of the tachyzoite surface was observed, with titers equal to or greater than 1:16 in dogs and 1:64 in cats [5,61].…”

Frequency of Toxoplasma gondii and Risk Factors Associated with the Infection in Stray Dogs and Cats of Panama

“…Epidemiological studies in Latin American countries have shown a high frequency of T. gondii infection in stray dogs and cats strongly associated with the region, the animal species and the type of diagnostic test used. Studies conducted in Brazil displayed variations in urban regions of the cities of São Paulo (dogs—50.5%, cats—40.0%), Rio de Janeiro (cats—18%) and Curitiba (dogs—48%), where a high percentage of positivity was observed in both dogs and cats [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. In Argentina and Chile, the majority of the reports are studies carried out on pets.…”