Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii antibody prevalence in Ahvaz feral cats, Iran

Hossein Hamidinejat; Bahman Mosalanejad; Reza Avizeh; Mohammad Hossein Razi Jalali; Masoud Ghorbanpour; Mehdi Namavari

Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology

Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

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Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii antibody prevalence in Ahvaz feral cats, Iran

Author(s):

Hossein Hamidinejat^1,*,

Bahman Mosalanejad²,

Reza Avizeh²,

Mohammad Hossein Razi Jalali²,

Masoud Ghorbanpour²,

Mehdi Namavari³

1Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, hamidinejat@yahoo.com, Iran

2Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Iran

3Razi Institute of Shiraz, Iran

Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology:Vol. 4, issue 4

Article type:Research Article

How to Cite:Hossein HamidinejatBahman MosalanejadReza AvizehMohammad Hossein Razi JalaliMasoud GhorbanpourMehdi Namavariet al.Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii antibody prevalence in Ahvaz feral cats, Iran.Jundishapur J Microbiol.4(4):null-null.

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are two closely related cyst forming apicomplexean protozoa that infect a wide range of warm-blooded animals. N. caninum has similar morphologic and biologic characteristics to T. gondii and until 1988 was misdiagnosed as T. gondii. Tachyzoites and tissue cysts of both parasites are found intracellularly in the intermediate hosts. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence rate of anti-Neospora caninum and anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in feral cats (Felis catus) in Ahvaz, Iran.

Materials and methods: Antibodies to N. caninum and T. gondii were determined in serum samples of 100 feral cats in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, Iran. IgG antibodies were assayed by the modified agglutination test using whole tachyzoites of T. gondii and N. caninum, incorporating 2-mercaptoethanol, modified agglutination test and Neospora agglutination test, for T. gondii and N. caninum, respectively.

Results: Anti-T. gondii antibodies were found in 54(54%) of 100 cats but anti-N. caninum antibodies were detected in 19(19%) of 100 cats. There was no difference between the presence of antibodies for both parasites in male and female cats (P>0.05), but occurrence of antibodies was significantly increased with age for both parasites (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Because of high occurrence of anti- T. gondii antibodies in cats in this study, cats may play a serious role in human and other mammalian toxoplasmosis in Ahvaz.

Significance and impact of the study: This study was the first considering survey T. gondii and N. caninum simultaneously in cats in Iran and revealed the importance of cats in prevalence of theses two parasites.

Keywords

Neospora caninum

Toxoplasma gondii

Feral cat

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