Cross-sectional survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection in colony cats from urban Florence (Italy)

Abstract

Cats are the key species in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection, even if the proportion of subjects excreting oocysts is low. The aim of the present paper was to obtain information about seroprevalence, oocyst shedding rate and presence of T gondii DNA in faeces collected from an urban population of colony cats in Florence (Tuscany). Fifty European shorthair feral cats were examined for anti-T gondii specific antibodies by a modified agglutination test (MAT), and for oocysts by microscopic examination and for faecal protozoal DNA, by means of a nested polymerase chain reaction (n-PCR) protocol. Twenty-two out of 50 serum samples (44%) were MAT positive. T gondii oocysts were not detected in any of the examined faecal samples. Eight out of 50 faecal specimens (16%) were n-PCR positive and sequencing of the bands was specific for T gondii. Detection by combination of the two methods was higher than single techniques and enhanced the detection of T gondii up to 48%. Our results suggest that the use of MAT plus PCR in faeces may be the best choice for diagnosis of feline toxoplasmosis. Further studies to ascertain the real infectivity of the copro-PCR positive subjects are required.

Detection and prevalence of protozoan parasites in ready-to-eat packaged salads on sale in Italy

“…Cyclospora oocysts (Masucci et al, 2011) or Cyclospora DNA have been recorded not only in humans (Giangaspero et al, 2015a), but also in non-human primates (Marangi et al, 2015), as well as in environmental samples, including vegetables, in the water used to irrigate them (Giangaspero et al, 2015a), and even in tap water (Giangaspero et al, 2015b). As to T. gondii, it has been shown that cats shed oocysts widely in Italy (Mancianti et al, 2010(Mancianti et al, , 2015 and that the oocysts then reach the sea and contaminate shellfish (Putignani et al, 2011). The presence of two additional species of protozoans i.e.…”

Survey of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum, haemotropic mycoplasmas and other arthropod-borne pathogens in cats from Albania

“…Toxoplasmosis is widespread in south-east Europe [20]. The average prevalence of IgG antibodies was reported to be approximately 50% in pregnant woman in Albania [21] and among Albanians who migrated to Italy [22] and this percentage of exposure represents the upper limit of the range of currently reported data from the Balkans [23-25]. The overall seroprevalence of 62.3% in the cats from Tirana is among the highest infection percentage observed in Europe where T. gondii antibodies were detected in up to 70% of the cats [26].…”

Toxoplasma gondii Detection in Urban Hawai´i

“…For soil, the procedures include homogenizing the samples using agitation and washing with dispersion solution, pre-filtration, sucrose floatation and, finally, destroying oocysts with freeze-thaw events (Afonso et al 2008) or grinding with glass beads and proteinase K digestion (Salant et al 2007). Several studies have also used commercial DNA extraction kits (Homan et al 2000, Lass et al 2009, Mancianti et al 2010, Salant et al 2007, 2010. Viable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers were identified by Su et al (2006) for the different strains of T. gondii.…”

“…For this study, methods were pooled from 4 studies on soil detection of T. gondii oocysts. Specifically, oocyst recovery from soil and DNA extraction was modified from Dumetre and Darde (2003), Lass et al (2009), Mancianti et al (2010, and Salant et al (2010).…”