African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5238

Full Length Research Paper

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dogs in Jinzhou City, Northeast China

  Yi-Ming Tian1, Dong-Hui Zhou1*, Hui-Qun Song1, Chao Yan3, Min Bao4 and Feng-Cai Zou2
  1State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, China. 2College of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650201, P. R. China. 3Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221004, China. 4College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province 121000, China.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 03 July 2013
  •  Published: 05 July 2013

Abstract

 

To investigate the prevalence of dogs exposed to Toxoplasma gondii in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, northeast China, 304 dogs were screened for specific antibodies to T. gondii by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercially-marketed kit. The overall prevalence of T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 82 of 304 (26.97%) dogs with regional variations, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The study also showed that prevalence increased significantly with age ranging from 18.49 to 45.20%, of which, the prevalence of dogs >3 years was significantly higher than those <1 year (P < 0.01). The results of our study indicated that dogs in Jinzhou had a relatively high T. gondii seroprevalence, which has implications for public health in this region.

 

Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, Toxoplasmosis, dog, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), seroprevalence, Jinzhou, Northeastern China.