Seroprevalence against Toxoplasma gondii in domiciled cats in Japan.
A serological survey with latex agglutination test to detect anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies was conducted on 800 serum samples collected from domiciled cats at animal hospitals in various areas of Japan. The overall prevalence was 6.0% (48/800). Among 48 positive individuals, there was no specific distribution of strength of antibody titers; the titers were 1:64 in 8 cats, 1:128 in 12, 1:256 in 8, 1:512 in 10, 1:1,024 in 8 and 1:2,048 in 2. The maximum prevalence was 15.4% in 13 cats at 17-23 yrs old group, whereas all were negative in 58 cats aged 12-16 yrs. The age groups in the order of higher prevalence were 8, 4, 10, 5, 3, and 7 yrs, showing no aging effect to the prevalence. In terms of rearing conditions of those cats, they were classified into 4 groups, i.e., indoor, free, outdoor, and others. The prevalence in the outdoor group (11.1%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in the free group (4.8%). Epidemiological aspects observed in the domiciled cats were different from those reported in the stray cats.
Nogami
S
S
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Nihon University, Kanagawa, Japan.
Moritomo
T
T
Kamata
H
H
Tamura
Y
Y
Sakai
T
T
Nakagaki
K
K
Motoyoshi
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan