title: Molecular and biological characterization of first isolates of Hammondia hammondi from cats from Ethiopia.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii oocysts are morphologically and antigenically similar to oocysts of another feline coccidian, Hammondia hammondi. The distinction between H. hammondi and T. gondii is important from an epidemiological perspective because all isolates of T. gondii are potentially pathogenic for humans and animals, whereas H. hammondi is not known to cause clinical disease in any naturally infected intermediate or definitive hosts. In the present report, H. hammondi (designated HhCatEt1 and HhCatEt2) oocysts were found microscopically in the feces of 2 of 36 feral domestic cats (Felis catus) from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oocysts were orally infective to Swiss Webster and gamma interferon gene knockout mice; the inoculated mice developed tissue cysts in their muscles. Laboratory-raised cats fed mouse tissues of infected mice shed H. hammondi oocysts with a prepatent period of 5 days. The DNA extracted from sporulated oocysts reacted with H. hammondi-specific primers, and sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. JX477424, and KC223619). This is the first report of isolation of H. hammondi from cats from the African continent.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA. jitender.dubey@ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tilahun
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schares
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tiao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Darrington
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Gebreyes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005002:Ethiopia; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000469:parasitology; D008643:Mesentery; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000469:parasitology; D033661:Oocysts; D021745:Sarcocystidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan