title: Prevalence and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Lanzhou, China.
abstract: The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in birds has epidemiological significance because birds are indeed considered as a good indicator of environmental contamination by T. gondii oocysts. In this study, the prevalence of T. gondii in 313 house sparrows in Lanzhou, northwestern China was assayed by the modified agglutination test (MAT). Antibodies to T. gondii were positive in 39 (12.46%) of 313 samples (MAT titer ≥ 1:5). Tissues of heart, brain, and lung from the 39 seropositive house sparrows were tested for T. gondii DNA, 11 of which were found to be positive for the T. gondii B1 gene by PCR amplification. These positive DNA samples were typed at 9 genetic markers, including 8 nuclear loci, i.e., SAG1, 5'- and 3'-SAG2, alternative SAG2, SAG3, GRA6, L358, PK1, c22-8 and an apicoplast locus Apico. Of them, 4 isolates were genotyped with complete data for all loci, and 2 genotypes (Type II variants; ToxoDB #3 and a new genotype) were identified. These results showed that there is a potential risk for human infection with T. gondii in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii seroprevalence in house sparrows in China.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.forename: Si-Yang
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Dong-Hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiao-Xuan
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nian-Zhang
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xing-Quan
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D046370:Sparrows; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: PCR-RFLP typing; Toxoplasma gondii; northwestern China; seroprevalence; sparrow