title: Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in stray cats of Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular zoonotic protozoan with a worldwide distribution. It infects humans as well as a broad spectrum of vertebrate hosts. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. A total of 174 stray cat blood samples were collected from Gwacheon-si (n=20), Bucheon-si (82), and Yangju-si (72). Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 14 samples (8.1%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test, 28 (16.1%) via ELISA, and 23 (13.2%) via PCR analysis. The overall infection rate of female stray cats (29.2%) presented as higher than that of male cats (24.0%). This study suggests that T. gondii is widespread in the stray cat population of Gyeonggi-do, Korea. It is urgently needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxoplasmosis to other animal hosts and humans.
authors.affiliation: Division of Malaria and Parasitic Disease, National Institute of Health, Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul 122-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Youn
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun-Ah
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seungwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ho Sa
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ho Gun
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rhie
authors.forename: Hye-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Ho-Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Sang-Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*