Toxoplasma gondii in foxes and rodents from the German Federal States of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt: Seroprevalence and genotypes

Herrmann, Daland; Maksimov, Pavlo; Максимов, А. Ю.; Sutor, Astrid Siglinde; Schwarz, Sabine; Jaschke, W.; Schliephake, Annette; Denzin, Nicolai; Conraths, Franz J.; Schares, Gereon

doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.10.030

Cited by 56 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This is especially true in epidemiological contexts where there is only one species acting as definitive host (in the studied area it is the domestic cat) and contributing to oocyst dissemination [1]. Prevalence in red fox ranged from 14% in Germany [17] to 16.1% in Central Italy [18], 18.8% in Belgium [19] and 68% in Hungary [20]. PCR results on wild boar from France recorded a prevalence of 14.19% [21], while 5% of Belgian roe deer and 0% of red deer were positive by PCR [19].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasma gondii in sympatric wild herbivores and carnivores: epidemiology of infection in the Western Alps

et al. 2014

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BackgroundToxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite that is able to infect almost all warm blooded animals. In Europe, the domestic cat is the main definitive host. Worldwide, 6 billion people are infected with this parasite. The goal of our research is to evaluate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in wild animals from a previously unsampled area in Northern Italy where 0.1% of women seroconvert during pregnancy each year.MethodsWe sampled and tested skeletal muscle and central nervous system tissue of 355 wild animals by PCR (n = 121 roe deer Capreolus capreolus, n = 105 wild boar Sus scrofa, n = 94 red fox Vulpes vulpes, n = 22 alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra, n = 13 red deer Cervus elaphus).ResultsThe overall prevalence of infection with T. gondii was 10.99% (confidence interval (CI) 95% 8.14%-14.67%). A higher rate of infection was recorded in carnivores and omnivores (red fox 20.21%, CI 95% 13.34%-29.43%; wild boar 16.19%, CI 95% 10.36%-24.41%) compared to ruminants (2.48%, CI 95% 0.85%-7.04% in roe deer; 0.00%, CI 95% 0.00%-22.81% in red deer, and 0.00% alpine chamois (CI 95% 0.00%-14.87%) confirming the importance of tissue cysts in transmitting infection.ConclusionsThe relatively high prevalence of T. gondii DNA in highly consumed game species (wild boar and roe deer) gives valuable insights into T. gondii epidemiology and may contribute to improve prevention and control of foodborne toxoplasmosis in humans.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasma gondii in sympatric wild herbivores and carnivores: epidemiology of infection in the Western Alps

et al. 2014

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“…Herrmann et al . [43] have recently analyzed rodents from the Western part of Brandenburg, close to the border with Saxony-Anhalt, less than 90 km away from the nearest trapping site in the present study (Gatow). Among the 72 rodents tested in their study (69 M .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[43] compared PCR analysis with immunoblot analysis using recombinant TgSAG-1, and analyses of samples from foxes revealed that the immuno-blot assays were considerably more sensitive than the PCR. Using a commercially available tachyzoite antigen preparation as target, Reperant et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small rodents as paratenic or intermediate hosts of carnivore parasites in Berlin, Germany

et al. 2017

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Rodents are important intermediate and paratenic hosts for carnivore parasites, including the important zoonotic agents Toxoplasma, Echinococcus and Toxocara. Monitoring of such parasites in rodents can be used to detect increasing risks for human and veterinary public health. Rodents were trapped at four sites in Berlin, two near the city center, two at the periphery. PCRs were conducted to detect Coccidia (target ITS-1) and specifically Toxoplasma gondii (repetitive element) in brain and ascarids (ITS-2) in muscle or brain tissue. During necropsies, metacestodes were collected and identified using ITS-2 and 12S rRNA PCRs. An ELISA to detect antibodies against Toxocara canis ES antigens was performed. Within the 257 examined rodents, the most frequently observed parasite was Frenkelia glareoli predominantly found in Myodes glareolus. T. gondii was only detected in 12 rodents and Microtus spp. (although strongly underrepresented) had a significantly increased chance of being positive. Neither Echinococcus nor typical Taenia parasites of dogs and cats were found but Mesocestoides litteratus and Taenia martis metacestodes were identified which can cause severe peritoneal or ocular cysticercosis in dogs, primates and humans. Using PCR, the ascarids T. canis (n = 8), Toxocara cati (4) and Parascaris sp. (1) were detected predominantly in muscles. Seroprevalence of T. canis was 14.2% and ELISA was thus more sensitive than PCR to detect infection with this parasite. Non-parametric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis revealed that parasite communities could be grouped into an urban and a peri-urban cluster with high frequency of ascarid-positive rodents in urban and high frequency of F. glareoli in peri-urban sites. Prevalence rates of parasites in rodents with potential impact for human or veterinary public health are considerable and the monitoring of transmission cycles of carnivore parasites in intermediate rodent hosts is recommended to estimate the health risks arising from wild and domesticated carnivores.

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“…In the only other study of T. gondii infection in wild boar, from France, a type II infection was detected, but no pathologic description was carried out (Richomme et al, 2009). Other authors have reported mixed infections in sheep (Berger-Schoch et al, 2011) and foxes (Herrmann et al, 2012). Fetus 1, which developed apparently normally, was infected with T. gondii type III, which appears to be less pathogenic than the others in several species (Dubey et al, 2004).…”

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confidence: 92%

Congenital Toxoplasmosis in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and Identification of theToxoplasma gondiiTypes Involved

Calero‐Bernal

Gómez

Saugar

et al. 2013

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Congenital toxoplasmosis has been little described in wild animals. We report a case of vertical transmission in wild boar (Sus scrofa). Necropsy and histopathologic examination of a pregnant female and her three fetuses revealed all to have lesions compatible with acute toxoplasmosis. Nested polymerase chain reaction B1 gene detected Toxoplasma gondii in maternal (heart and diaphragm) and fetal (central nervous system, retina, optic nerve, heart, lung, tongue, and diaphragm) samples. The mother had a mixed infection of T. gondii types I and III. One fetus with type III infection developed no malformations, but the othersone with type I infection and one infected by types I and III-showed bilateral ocular agenesis, prognathism, and agenesis of the nasal cartilage. These results suggest the pathogenicity of the various T. gondii types may differ in wild boars.

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Toxoplasma gondii in foxes and rodents from the German Federal States of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt: Seroprevalence and genotypes

Cited by 56 publications

References 43 publications

Toxoplasma gondii in sympatric wild herbivores and carnivores: epidemiology of infection in the Western Alps

Toxoplasma gondii in sympatric wild herbivores and carnivores: epidemiology of infection in the Western Alps

Small rodents as paratenic or intermediate hosts of carnivore parasites in Berlin, Germany

Congenital Toxoplasmosis in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and Identification of theToxoplasma gondiiTypes Involved

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