title: Serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii in Tibetan mastiffs (Canis lupus familiaris) and yaks (Bos grunniens) in Qinghai, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Toxoplasma gondii is an amphixenosis which has extensive hosts. In recent years, the prevalence of T. gondii in China has been reported, while little is known on the survey of T. gondii infection in northwest China, especially in yaks (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan mastiffs (Canis lupus familiaris). The current study survey the infection of T. gondii in Tibetan mastiffs and yaks in Qinghai Province, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  The indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT) was used to examine T. gondii antibodies in 1 795 serums, including 192 Tibetan mastiffs and 1603 yaks in Qinghai Province, China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was 8.52%. Twenty (10.42%) of 192 serums of Tibetan mastiffs and 133 (8.30%) of 1603 serums of yaks were seropositive. The seroprevalence of T.gondii infection in Tibetan mastiffs in breeding farm (1.08%) was lower than that in the field (19.19%), and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The seroprevalence of antibodies to T.gondii in yaks ranged from 5.45% to 13.28% among the four different areas. The seroprevalence in different age groups were determined with apparent association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicated that T.gondii infection was prevalent in Tibetan mastiffs and yaks, which have implications for public health in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first seroprevalence survey of Tibetan mastiffs infected by T. gondii in The People's Republic of China.
authors.affiliation: Lanzhou Veterinary Institute, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, 1 Xujiaping, Chengguan, Lanzhou, Gansu, China. zhangdl2005@163.com
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan-hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: De-lin
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan