title: Isolation and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii from free-range ducks in Malaysia.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic protozoan that infects nearly one-third of humans. The present study was performed to isolate and genotype T. gondii from free-range ducks in Malaysia. Sera, heads, and hearts from 205 ducks were obtained from four states in Peninsular Malaysia, and 30 (14.63%) sera were found to be seropositive when assayed with the modified agglutination test (MAT > or = 1:6). All the positive samples were inoculated into mice, and T. gondii was successfully isolated from four individual duck samples (1.95%), which were initially found to be strongly seropositive (MAT > or = 1:24). The isolates were subjected to PCR-RFLP analysis, and two T. gondii strains were identified: type I and type II. This is the first reported study on the genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates from free-range farm animals in Southeast Asia.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, USM, Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Vignesh R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Puvanesuaran
authors.forename: Rahmah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Noordin
authors.forename: Venugopal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D004372:Ducks; D005838:Genotype; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan