Parasite 2014, 21,22 Ó P. Xu et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2014 DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2014023 Available online at: www.parasite-journal.org
SHORT NOTE OPEN ACCESS
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Liaoning cashmere goat from northeastern China
Peng Xu1,2,a, Xia Li3,a, Ling Guo1, Bing Li1, Jun Wang1,DiYu1, Quan Zhao2, and Xiao-Gang Liu1,* 1 College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province 121001, P.R. China 2 College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130118, P.R. China 3 Jinzhou Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province 121004, P.R. China
Received 8 March 2014, Accepted 4 May 2014, Published online 21 May 2014
Abstract – In the present study, serum samples from 650 goats were collected from five counties between May and June 2012 and antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were detected by indirect haemagglutination assay; 58 (9%) had anti- bodies to T. gondii with antibody titres of 1:64 to 1:1024. Seropositive samples were distributed in all five counties: seroprevalences in Kuandian county (15%, 21/139, 95% confidence interval [CI] 9–21%) were statistically different from the four other counties (Gaizhou, Huanren, Xiuyan and Liaoyang), and the seroprevalence difference between Xiuyan county (12%, 15/127, 95% CI 6–17%) and two other counties (Huanren, Liaoyang) was significantly different (P < 0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first report of the seroprevalence of T. gondii exposure in Liaoning cashmere goat in China. Our results indicated that Liaoning cashmere goat could be a potential reservoir for the transmission of T. gondii in Liaoning Province.
Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, seroprevalence, Liaoning cashmere goat, indirect haemagglutination assay.
Re´sume´ – Se´ropre´valence de Toxoplasma gondii chez les che`vres cachemire du Liaoning en Chine du nord. Dans cette e´tude, des e´chantillons de se´rum de 650 che`vres ont e´te´ recueillis dans cinq comte´s entre mai et juin 2012 et des anticorps a` T. gondii ont e´te´de´tecte´s par un test d’he´magglutination indirect; 58 (9 %) avaient des anticorps contre T. gondii avec des titres d’anticorps de 1:64 a` 1:1024. Les e´chantillons se´ropositifs e´taient distribue´s dans les cinq comte´s et la se´ropre´valence dans le comte´ de Kuandian (15 %, 21/139, intervalle de confiance a` 95 % [IC] 9–21 %) e´tait statistiquement diffe´rente des quatre autres comte´s (Gaizhou, Huanren, Xiuyan, Liaoyang), et la diffe´rence de se´ropre´valence du comte´ de Xiuyan (12 %, 15/127, IC a` 95 % 6–17 %) et de deux autres comte´s (Huanren, Liaoyang) e´tait significativement diffe´rente. A` notre connaissance, ceci est le premier rapport sur la se´ropre´valence d’exposition a` T. gondii chez les che`vres cachemire du Liaoning en Chine. Nos re´sultats indiquent que la che`vre cachemire pourrait eˆtre un re´servoir potentiel pour la transmission de T. gondii dans la province de Liaoning.
Introduction Liaoning cashmere goat is an excellent breed producing high-quality cashmere. To our knowledge, there is lack of infor- Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous, apicomplexan parasite mation on T. gondii infection in Liaoning cashmere goat. The in warm-blooded animals and humans worldwide. Humans present study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence can be infected by ingesting raw or undercooked meat with tis- of T. gondii infection in Liaoning cashmere goat from north- sue cysts, and consuming food or drink contaminated with oo- eastern China and to explore the potential risks for human cysts [2]. Infection of goats with T. gondii may cause early infection. embryonic death and resorption, foetal death and mummifica- tion, abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death [2], and thus can be responsible for heavy economic losses. Infection of produc- Materials and methods tion animals with T. gondii also has implications for public health since consumption of undercooked meat infected with Liaoning Province is located in northeastern China, and the parasite can facilitate zoonotic transmission [2]. borders the Yellow Sea (Korea Bay) and the Bohai Gulf in the south, North Korea in the southeast, Jilin Province to the a These two authors contributed equally to this work. northeast, Hebei Province to the west and Inner Mongolia to *Corresponding author: [email protected] the northwest. The Yalu River marks the border between North
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 2 P. Xu et al.: Parasite 2014, 21,22
Table 1. General characteristics of the 650 goats studied and seroprevalence of T. gondii infectiona in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. Characteristics No. examined No. positive Prevalence, % (95% CI) P Age (year) yr 1 34 1 2.94 (0.00–8.62) 0.11 1