Serologic survey of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in cats (Felis catus) sold at live animal markets in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite causing infection in humans and a wide range of mammals, with cats being the final and only host that excrete T. gondii-resistant oocysts to the environment. This study was designed to investigate the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii in cats sold at Live Animal Markets (LAMs) in Ibadan, Osogbo and Offa, Southwestern Nigeria. Blood samples were randomly collected from 226 cats at these markets and separated sera were tested for the presence of antibodies (IgG) to T. gondii, using two-fold dilutions from 1:20 to 1:320 by the Modified Agglutination Test (MAT). Attributes were analysed using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests at P<0.05. Median age of cats was 4.0 months (range: 1-36 months). Of the 226 samples tested, only 10 (4.4%) were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies at the cut-off titre of 1:20. Nine (4.0%) gave a titre of 1:20; one (0.4%) gave 1:80 while none was positive at 1:40, 1:160 and 1:320 dilutions. Age and gender of cats was not significantly associated with T. gondii infection. Our results showed low prevalence of T. gondii infection in cats sold at LAMs in studied area and suggests confinement as an efficient way of limiting exposure of cats to infection sources.

Feline Toxoplasmosis in Greece: A Countrywide Seroprevalence Study and Associated Risk Factors

“…According to our findings from chi-square tests and the binary logistic regression model, gender was not a significant risk factor for T. gondii seropositivity, as showcased in almost all previous studies [44,50,54,[56][57][58][59][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]. Both male and female cats seem similarly vulnerable to acquiring T. gondii.…”

Seroprevalence of and Risk Factors for Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Cats from Greece

“…In America, studies have reported an overall seroprevalence of 1.1–100% in North America [ 35 , 36 ], 0–82.8% in South America, and 25% in Central America [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. In addition, the reported seroprevalence in North Africa varies from 50% to 97.5% in North Africa and from 4.4% to 36.2% in West Africa, and it is reported to be 3.9% in South Africa [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ], while in Asia it ranges between 2.2% and 82.8% [ 45 , 46 ]. This tremendous variability may reflect differences in the demographics and the geographic origin of the cats, the accuracy of the diagnostic tests, and/or the overtime changes in the prevalence of these infections.…”

“…Our study, based on the results of the univariate analysis, showed that cats with outdoor access were significantly more likely to be T. gondii -seropositive compared to cats living strictly indoors, and this is in agreement with several previous reports [ 22 , 52 , 61 , 62 ]. Cats living outdoors or having outdoor access are more likely to hunt and eat intermediate hosts, who might be infected, compared to cats that live indoors and typically eat safe processed food [ 43 , 63 , 64 ]. Furthermore, outdoors cats have an increased chance of becoming infected by drinking oocyst-contaminated water [ 65 ].…”

Zoonotic fungal diseases and animal ownership in Nigeria

“…In Nigeria, some zoonotic diseases such as rabies, avian influenza, Lassa fever, toxoplasmosis and tuberculosis have been given priority attention. [10][11][12][13][14] However, it is noteworthy that fungal diseases with zoonotic potential have attracted inadequate interest in the country, probably due to the fact that fungi are yet to be recognized as major causes of morbidity and mortality in animals and humans. In the present review, a computerized search of existing literature was conducted using the Google search engine and PubMed electronic database to identify and download relevant publications on zoonotic fungal infections in Nigeria.…”