Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in stray and household cats in regions of Seoul, Korea.
The principal objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in household and stray cats in Seoul, Republic of Korea. We collected blood samples from 72 stray and 80 household cats, and all samples were examined by ELISA and nested PCR. The overall positive rates of Toxoplasma gondii in stray cats were 38.9% (28/72), with 15.3% (11/72) in ELISA and 30.6% (22/72) in PCR. The positive rate in male stray cats was slightly higher than that of female stray cats. The highest positive rate of T. gondii infection was noted in Gangnam and Songpa populations in ELISA and in Gwangjin population in PCR. In household cats, however, we could not detect any specific antibodies or DNA for T. gondii. In conclusion, we recognized that the infection rate of toxoplasmosis in stray cats in Seoul was considerably high but household cats were free from infection.
Lee
Sang-Eun
SE
Division of Malaria and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Health, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul 122-701, Korea.
Kim
Jae-Yeong
JY
Kim
Yun-Ah
YA
Cho
Shin-Hyeong
SH
Ahn
Hye-Jin
HJ
Woo
Heung-Myong
HM
Lee
Won-Ja
WJ
Nam
Ho-Woo
HW
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000469:parasitology; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan