Epidemiological and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in urban pigeons from the area of Lisbon (Portugal)

Veterinary Parasitology
Helga WaapHelena Angelo

Abstract

Circumstantial evidence suggests that birds may be a good indicator of soil contamination, since they feed from the ground. Therefore a study was conducted to assess the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in urban pigeons (Columba livia) from different areas of the city of Lisbon and to genetically characterize T. gondii strains isolated from infected animals, in order to assess circulating genotypes. Sera from 695 pigeons captured at 33 different localities of the city of Lisbon were assayed by the direct agglutination test (DAT) showing a 4.6% prevalence. One third of flocks sampled revealed to be infected with T. gondii, with prevalence ranging between 5% and 62.5%. T. gondii DNA could be characterized directly from brain tissue from 12 of 23 seropositive pigeons. Microsatellite typing revealed that 9 strains belonged to type II, 2 were type III and one was type I. No recombinant or atypical genotypes were found. Attempts to recover viable T. gondii strains through bioassay in mice resulted in the isolation of 9 strains.

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Citations

May 27, 2011·The Journal of Parasitology·C Alvarado-EsquivelJ P Dubey
Nov 3, 2009·Veterinary Parasitology·Leane S Q GondimLuis F P Gondim
Aug 22, 2009·International Journal for Parasitology·D C HerrmannG Schares
Jul 22, 2009·Veterinary Parasitology·Harold SalantGad Baneth
Nov 9, 2010·Veterinary Parasitology·Vanessa Yuri de LimaJoão Pessoa Araújo
Jan 15, 2014·Veterinary Parasitology·Francisco EstevesOlga Matos
Sep 23, 2014·International Journal of Medical Microbiology : IJMM·Dirk SchlüterCarsten Lüder
Apr 5, 2014·Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases·Marija MarkovićOlgica Djurković-Djaković
Dec 28, 2010·Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinária = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Órgão Oficial do Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária·Fernanda Sartori Lima de GodoiSolange Maria Gennari
Apr 12, 2012·Clinical Microbiology Reviews·Florence Robert-Gangneux, Marie-Laure Dardé
Feb 1, 2017·Parasitology Research·Anabela VilaresJoão Paulo Gomes
Jul 5, 2019·Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinária = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Órgão Oficial do Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária·Aline Luiza KonellRosangela Locatelli-Dittrich

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