Ovalle F, García A, Thibauth J, Lorca M
Facultad de Ciencas Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad Autral de Chile.
Bol Chil Parasitol. 2000 Jul-Dec;55(3-4):94-9.
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonosis. The importance of the cat as related to this parasitosis lies in the fact that it is not only the definite host of the parasite, but responsible for its dissemination through the release of oocysts, which subsequently infect both humans and other animals. The objective of this study was to determine the serological prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in the feline population of the city of Valdivia (Chile) and to establish the possible epidemiological implications of this prevalence. With these goals in mind the technique of indirect immunofluorescence was implemented to detect anti- T. gondii species--specific IgG. Blood samples from 97 cats (selected using a directed sampling process) from different sectors of Valdivia were collected. The sample included 46 males and 51 females of different ages, Positive and negative control sera obtained from de United States were used to verify the results, observed by UV microscopy. The anti-feline IgG antibody was used as directed by the manufacturer (Sigma). Of the 97 selected cats, 32 were found to be positive with a titre higher than 1:4, a prevalence of 33.0%. The number of infected males as compared to the number of infected females was found to be statistically insignificant, using the chi-square analysis with p less than 0.1. In contrast, a definite correlation between age and seropositivity was found; infection levels were higher in older animals. These results are consistent with those obtained in different studies on this topic that have been performed in different parts of the world. However, they would seem to be in conflict with other, similar studies that have been done recently in Chile; this may be due to the fact that the cats selected for this study were exposed to different climatic conditions than those examined in previous works. In conclusion, it has been determined that in Valdivia exist cats infected by T. gondii, which indicate the presence of the necessary epidemiological conditions for the persistence of this parasitic cycle and the source of infection for humans and other animals.
弓形虫病是一种寄生性人畜共患病。猫与这种寄生虫病相关的重要性在于，它不仅是该寄生虫的终末宿主，还通过释放卵囊导致其传播，这些卵囊随后会感染人类和其他动物。本研究的目的是确定智利瓦尔迪维亚市猫科动物群体中弓形虫的血清学流行率，并确定这种流行率可能的流行病学意义。基于这些目标，采用间接免疫荧光技术检测抗弓形虫属特异性IgG。收集了来自瓦尔迪维亚不同区域的97只猫（通过定向抽样过程选取）的血样。样本包括46只雄性和51只不同年龄的雌性猫，使用从美国获得的阳性和阴性对照血清来验证结果，通过紫外线显微镜观察。按照制造商（西格玛）的指示使用抗猫IgG抗体。在97只选取研究的猫中，有32只被发现呈阳性，滴度高于1:4，流行率为33.0%。使用卡方分析，p值小于0.1，结果显示感染雄性猫的数量与感染雌性猫的数量相比在统计学上无显著差异。相比之下，发现年龄与血清阳性之间存在明确的相关性；老年动物的感染水平更高。这些结果与世界不同地区关于该主题的不同研究结果一致。然而，它们似乎与智利最近进行的其他类似研究相冲突；这可能是由于本研究中选取的猫所暴露的气候条件与先前研究中所检查的不同。总之，已确定在瓦尔迪维亚存在感染弓形虫的猫，这表明存在该寄生虫循环持续存在的必要流行病学条件以及人类和其他动物的感染源。
