An Antibody-Based Survey of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum Infection in Client-Owned Cats from Portugal-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

An Antibody-Based Survey of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum Infection in Client-Owned Cats from Portugal

Published:2023-07-17 Issue:14 Volume:13 Page:2327
ISSN:2076-2615
Container-title:Animals
language:en
Short-container-title:Animals

Author:

Pereira Maria Aires¹²³,Nóbrega Carmen¹⁴,Mateus Teresa L.⁵⁶⁷^ORCID,Almeida Daniela⁸^ORCID,Oliveira Andreia⁹¹⁰,Coelho Catarina¹³⁶^ORCID,Cruz Rita¹⁷^ORCID,Oliveira Paula⁴¹¹^ORCID,Faustino-Rocha Ana⁴¹²^ORCID,Pires Maria J.⁴¹¹,Mesquita João R.⁷⁸^ORCID,Vala Helena¹³⁴^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal

2. Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), R. da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal

3. CERNAS-IPV Research Centre, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, Repeses, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal

4. Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal

5. CISAS—Center for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun’Àlvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal

6. Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS) Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal

7. EpiUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), Rua das Taipas, n° 135, 4050-091 Porto, Portugal

8. ICBAS—Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Rua Jorge de Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal

9. Escola Superior Agrária de Ponte de Lima, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua D. Mendo Afonso, 147 Refóios do Lima, 4990-706 Ponte de Lima, Portugal

10. Hospital Veterinário de Gaia, Rua Voltinha 82, 4415-369 Pedroso, Portugal

11. Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal

12. Comprehensive Health Research Center, Department of Zootechnics, School of Sciences and Technology, University of Évora, 7004-516 Évora, Portugal

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites infecting a wide range of hosts worldwide. However, information on the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis and neosporosis in cats from Portugal is limited. Thus, this study aims to evaluate anti-T. gondii and anti-N. caninum seroprevalence in client-owned cats from Portugal and to identify risk factors using a panel of well-characterized sera. A total of 183 domestic cats were sampled and screened for antibodies against T. gondii and N. caninum using commercial ELISA assays, and their owners answered an online questionnaire designed to obtain background information. The overall anti-T. gondii and anti-N. caninum seroprevalences were 13.1% (CI: 8.97–18.77) and 3.8% (CI: 1.87–7.68), respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that living strictly indoors was a significant protection factor (cOR: 0.053; CI: 0.005–0.627), and the presence of a chronic disease a significant risk factor (cOR: 3.106; CI: 1.062–9.082) to T. gondii seroprevalence. When performing multivariate analysis, only chronic disease (aOR: 57.527; CI: 1.7–1976.7) and seropositivity to N. caninum (aOR: 7.929; CI:0.8–82.9) were found to be a significant risk factor to anti-T. gondii antibodies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. caninum seropositivity in cats from Portugal.

Funder

Global Health and Tropical Medicine

Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society

Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology

Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

General Veterinary,Animal Science and Zoology

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/14/2327/pdf

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