Antibody Detection, Isolation, Genotyping, and Virulence of Toxoplasma gondii in Captive Felids from China

Abstract

The felids are the only definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii, which could excrete oocysts into the environment and provide an infection source for toxoplasmosis in various warm-blooded animal species, particularly the captive felids that live close to human communities. The infection rate of the captive felids is a perfect standard in detecting the presence of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in the environment. In this study, sera or tissue samples from zoo (1 young tiger, 2 adult tigers, 6 young lions), farm (10 masked palm civets), and pet hospital (28 cats) from Henan Province (China) were collected. The sera (n = 47) were tested for immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against T. gondii by using modified agglutination test (MAT), whereas the hearts tissue (n = 40) were bioassayed in mice to isolate T. gondii strains. The genotype was distinguished by using PCR-RFLP of 10 loci (SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, GRA6, BTUB, L358, c22-8, PK1, c29-2, and Apico). The detection rate for the T. gondii antibody in captive felids was 21.3% (10/47). One viable T. gondii strain (TgCatCHn4) was obtained from a cat heart tissue, and its genotype was ToxoDB#9. The oocysts of ToxoDB#9 were collected from a T. gondii-free cat. The virulence of TgCatCHn4 was low and no cysts were detected in the brain of mice at 60 days post-inoculation. The finding of the present study suggested a widespread exposure of T. gondii for felids in Henan Province of central China, particularly those from the zoological gardens and homes. ToxoDB#9 was the predominant strain in China. Preventive measures against T. gondii oocyst contamination of various components of the environment should thus be implemented, including providing pre-frozen meat, well-cooked cat food, cleaned fruits and vegetables, monitoring birds and rodents, inactive T. gondii oocysts in felids feces, and proper hygiene.

Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii in Food Animals and Humans (2000–2017) From China

“…This finding indicates that T. gondii oocysts are widely distributed in the country. This viewpoint was also verified by other reports ( Pan et al, 2017 ; Yang et al, 2017a ). Furthermore, the popularity of hotpot with undercooked mutton and pork increases the risk of human T. gondii infection in China, with other food animals also remaining as threats to public health ( Guo et al, 2015 ; Yang et al, 2017b ).…”

Low prevalence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in dairy cattle from China’s central region

“…In the present study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii in cattle was 1.93% (102/5292), which is lower than the rest of the world and China’s average infection rate. It is also lower than the seroprevalence of T. gondii in free-range chickens (18.86%, 132/700) [ 19 ], ostrich (10.20%, 20/197) [ 20 ], sheep (29.33%, 83/283) [ 21 ], swine (13.08%, 304/2325) [ 22 ], domestic cats (50%, 21/42) [ 23 ], and large cats (88.9%, 8/9) [ 24 ] in Henan Province. The maximum titer against T. gondii antibodies in dairy cattle was 3200 in this study.…”

Endoparasites of the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)

“…have been registered in both captive and wild Siberian tigers, while G. duodenalis was found only in captive Siberian tigers (Han et al 2010;Li et al 2015;Seryodkin et al 2015). Toxoplasma gondii, another major zoonotic feline parasite (Elmore et al 2010), has been found both in captive and wild Siberian tigers (Domy & Fransen 1989;De Camps et al 2008;Seryodkin et al 2015;Yang et al 2017).…”

“…and Toxoplasma gondii (Han et al 2010). T. gondii has been registered in captive Siberian tigers with a prevalence of 28.7% in the USA and 66.7% in Henan Province, China (Domy & Fransen 1989;De Camps et al 2008;Yang et al 2017). A Cystoisospora sp., molecularly identified as C. felis, has been recorded in the captive Siberian tigers from the Heilong- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 (Han et al 2010).…”