title: [Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection among Atayal aborigines and local animals in Nan-ao district, Ilan county and Jen-ai district, Nan-tou county, Taiwan].
abstract: In this study, latex agglutination test (LAT) was used to detect sera anti-toxoplasma antibodies of Atayal aborigines and local animals in Nan-ao district, Ilan county and Jen-ai district, Nan-tou county as a measure of exposure to the Toxoplasma gondii. Out of 422 Atayal aborigines and 64 different animals were tested in Nan-ao district and 82 Atayal children in Jen-ai district were also screened, the positive rates for sera anti-toxoplasma antibodies were 21.8%, 17.2% and 15.9%, respectively. In Nan-ao district, neither were the positive rates significantly different in males (22.1%) and females (21.4%), nor in humans (21.8%) and dogs (19.6%) (P > 0.05). The seroprevalence in adults (28.3%) was significantly higher than that in children (18.7%) (P < 0.05), and the highest seropositive rate (38.1%) was in the age group 50-59 years and the lowest (7.7%) was in the age group 1-9 years. In general, the age pattern of prevalence is consistent with increasing duration of exposure to Toxoplasma gondii with age. For animals, the seropositive rate in dogs (19.6%) was also significantly higher than that in wild rats (7.7%) (P < 0.05). No significant difference in seropositive rate of Atayal children was observed between Nan-ao and Jen-ai districts (P > 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology & Center for Aboriginal Health Research, Taipei Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chiol
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D051381:Rats; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013624:Taiwan; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology*