title: Toxoplasma gondii prevalence in cats from Lisbon and in pigs from centre and south of Portugal.
abstract: Toxoplasmosis is an important zoonosis worldwide. Here we determined the presence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sera and T. gondii DNA in faeces of 215 domestic cats from veterinary clinics in the Lisbon area; 44 (20.5%) had anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies by the modified agglutination test (cut-off 1:40) and DNA was detected in 16 (35.6%) of 45 cat faeces tested. Risk factor analysis indicated increase of seroprevalence with age of the cats. Sera and tissues of 381 pigs from a slaughterhouse were also tested for T. gondii infection; 27 (7.1%) of the 381 pigs were seropositive. T. gondii DNA was demonstrated in diaphragms and/or brains of seven (35.0%) of 20 anti-T. gondii seropositive pigs tested by the B1 nested-PCR. Results indicate very high prevalence of T. gondii DNA in the faeces (oocysts) of definitive hosts and relatively low, but still worrying, seroprevalence of T. gondii antibodies in pigs destined for human consumption.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, Grupo de Protozoários Oportunistas/VIH e Outros Protozoários, CMDT, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira N° 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Esteves
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, Grupo de Protozoários Oportunistas/VIH e Outros Protozoários, CMDT, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira N° 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Avª. Prof. Egas Moniz, Hospital de Santa Maria, Cidade Universitária, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal; Hospital Veterinário de São Bento, Rua de S. Bento, N° 358-A, 1200-822 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, Grupo de Protozoários Oportunistas/VIH e Outros Protozoários, CMDT, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira N° 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosado
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, Grupo de Protozoários Oportunistas/VIH e Outros Protozoários, CMDT, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira N° 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Luísa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, 3001-802 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Sousa
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Avª. Prof. Egas Moniz, Hospital de Santa Maria, Cidade Universitária, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, Grupo de Protozoários Oportunistas/VIH e Outros Protozoários, CMDT, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira N° 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: omatos@ihmt.unl.pt.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matos
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000469:parasitology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D016266:Food Parasitology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D014122:Toxoplasma; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Cats; Molecular analysis; Pigs; Seroprevalence; Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis