title: Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in wild small mammals: Seroprevalence, DNA detection and genotyping.
abstract: Generally, rodents and other small mammals are considered as one of the sources of Toxoplasma gondii or Neospora caninum infection for cats and dogs as the definitive hosts of these two parasites, respectively. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of these two parasites in wild small mammals from the Czech Republic and to characterize T. gondii isolates by methods of molecular biology. A total of 621 wild small mammals were caught in the Czech Republic during years 2002-2014. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected by latex agglutination test in six (2.5%) of 240 small mammals (in two A. agrarius and four A. flavicollis). Antibodies to N. caninum were detected by commercially available competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in one A. flavicolis (0.4%). Three of 427 (0.7%) liver samples were positive for T. gondii by PCR while negative for N. caninum. All embryo samples (n=102) were negative for both T. gondii and N. caninum. The three liver samples positive for T. gondii DNA (two from A. flavicollis and one from A. sylvaticus) were genotyped by 15 microsatellite markers and characterized as type II. To our knowledge, this is the first information about genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates in small mammals from Europe and the first detection of N. caninum antibodies in wild rodents from the Czech Republic.
authors.affiliation: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Palackého tř. 1946/1, Brno 61242, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Machačová
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Référence (CNR) Toxoplasmose/Toxoplasma Biological Resource Center (BRC), Centre Hospital-Universitaire Dupuytren, Limoges 87042, France; INSERM UMR_S 1094, Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Laboratory of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Limoges, Limoges 87025, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ajzenberg
authors.affiliation: Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Experimental Biology, Kamenice 753/5, Bohunice, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Alena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Žákovská
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology and Serology, State Veterinary Institute Prague, Sídlištní 136/24, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sedlák
authors.affiliation: University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Palackého tř. 1946/1, Brno 61242, Czech Republic. Electronic address: bartovae@vfu.cz.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bártová
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D018688:Neospora / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012377:Rodentia; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012788:Shrews; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Czech Republic; Genotype; Neosporosis; Rodents; Toxoplasmosis