title: Natural toxoplasma gondii infections in European brown hares and mountain hares in Finland: proportional mortality rate, antibody prevalence, and genetic characterization.
abstract: In material examined postmortem in Finland from May 2006 to April 2009, acute generalized toxoplasmosis was the immunohistochemically confirmed cause of death in 14 (8.1%) of 173 European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) and four (2.7%) of 148 mountain hares (Lepus timidus). Sera from 116 of the European brown hares and 99 of the mountain hares were screened with a commercial direct agglutination test for Toxoplasma gondii-specific IgG antibodies at a dilution of 1:40. All sera from cases of fatal toxoplasmosis had high titers of antibodies reactive to T. gondii. In contrast, none of 107 European brown hares and four (4%) of 96 mountain hares that died of other causes were antibody-positive. The proportional mortality rates and the T. gondii antibody prevalences among noncases differed significantly between the two host species (P<0.05). Direct genetic characterization of the causative agent was performed on DNA extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue of the hares with fatal toxoplasmosis. Based on the results with six microsatellite markers (B18, TUB2, TgM-A, W35, B17, and M33; all six in 15 cases and four in three cases), all the cases were caused by T. gondii genotype II; the size of the PCR product at the seventh marker (M48) varied (213-229 base pairs). The presence of T. gondii genotype II, which is endemic in Europe, is now confirmed in Finnish wildlife: Natural infections with T. gondii parasites belonging to this widespread genotype caused fatal generalized toxoplasmosis in the two species of wild hares.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 66, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. pikka.jokelainen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Pikka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jokelainen
authors.forename: Marja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Isomursu
authors.forename: Anu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Näreaho
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oksanen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D034621:Hares / Q000469:parasitology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013045:Species Specificity; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan