title: Seroprevalences of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in pet rabbits in Japan.
abstract: The potential contamination of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum oocysts in the human environment is a concern from the public health viewpoint. However, estimation of their seroprevalences in humans cannot be performed in a manner that distinguishes between oocysts and tissue cysts as a source of infection. Rabbits are considered popular pet animals in Japan that can acquire natural infections by the aforementioned parasites only through the ingestion of oocysts. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalences of T. gondii and N. caninum in pet rabbits in Japan as an indicator of the possible oocyst contamination in the environment surrounding human beings. Serum samples of 337 rabbits were examined by different serological methods. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to measure the titer of IgG and IgM antibodies. Samples revealed to be seropositive by ELISA were further analyzed by a latex agglutination test, Western blotting and an indirect immunofluorescence assay. The rates of seropositivity for T. gondii were 0.89% (3/337) and 0.29% (1/337) in IgG and IgM ELISA, respectively. SAG1 and SAG2 were detected as major antigens by the positive rabbit sera in Western blotting associated with strong staining observed by IFA in T. gondii tachyzoites. Regarding N. caninum, none of the serum samples showed a specific reaction in both Western blotting and the IFA. The results of this study indicate low seroprevalences of toxoplasmosis and neosporosis in pet rabbits in Japan, suggesting low oocyst contamination in the human environment.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Doaa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salman
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oohashi
authors.forename: Adel Elsayed Ahmed
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Abd El-Raheem
authors.initials: Ael-R
authors.lastname: Abd El-Mottelib
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Igarashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000662:veterinary; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000378:metabolism; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D018688:Neospora; D057805:Pets / Q000469:parasitology*; D011817:Rabbits; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M