Department of Parasitology, Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
Vet Parasitol. 2009 Oct 28;165(1-2):145-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2009.06.031. Epub 2009 Jul 2.
A cross-sectional prevalence study was performed for anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) in 495 wild pigeons (Columba livia) captured from various locations in Israel. Seropositivity was found in 20/495 (4%) of the birds. Pigeon samples in regions of semi-arid climate had higher T. gondii seropositivity (p=0.033), amount of precipitation was inversely proportional to seropositivity (p=0.005), seropositivity was inversely related to the size of the nearest human community (p=0.012), and seropositivity was inversely related to the proximity of water flow (p=0.013). The study results highlight the widespread environmental contamination of T. gondii and suggest that pigeons may serve as sentinels for the environmental spread of this parasite.
本研究采用改良凝集试验（MAT）对从以色列各地捕获的 495 只野鸽（Columba livia）进行了抗弓形虫抗体的横断面流行率研究。结果发现，495 只鸟中有 20 只（4%）呈血清阳性。半干旱气候地区的鸽样本具有更高的弓形虫血清阳性率（p=0.033），降水量与血清阳性率呈反比（p=0.005），血清阳性率与最近的人类社区的大小呈反比（p=0.012），与水流的接近程度呈反比（p=0.013）。研究结果强调了弓形虫的广泛环境污染，并表明鸽子可能作为这种寄生虫环境传播的哨兵。
