Sioutas Georgios, Gelasakis Athanasios I, Symeonidou Isaia, Tsokana Constantina N, Alevizos Panagiotis, Bitchava Dimitra, Papadopoulos Elias
Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Laboratory of Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece.
Vet Sci. 2024 Jul 27;11(8):339. doi: 10.3390/vetsci11080339.
Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan , is a zoonotic disease that affects various animal species, including dogs, that can serve as sentinels for indirectly estimating the environmental contamination. The current study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies in dogs across different regions of Greece and assess their living area as a potential risk factor. In total, 1282 blood samples were collected from dogs in urban and rural areas of Greece, including Attica and Thessaloniki. Serum samples were tested for -specific IgG and IgM antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. A chi-square test was performed to assess the association between seropositivity for and geographical location (urban/rural). The overall seroprevalence was 47.6%, while the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies was 34.3% and 22.2%, respectively. Dogs from rural areas exhibited a significantly higher seroprevalence (53.8%) than those from urban areas (43.9%) ( < 0.001), with the estimated odds ratio being equal to 1.49 (95% CI, 1.18 to 1.65) and the relative risk increased by 22.4%. Dogs in Greece are highly exposed to , particularly in rural areas. Measures to prevent canine infections are necessary, and basic hygiene practices, such as hand washing after petting dogs, are required to reduce human infection risk and safeguard public health.
弓形虫病由原生动物引起，是一种人畜共患病，可影响包括狗在内的多种动物物种，狗可作为间接评估环境污染的哨兵。本研究旨在确定希腊不同地区狗的IgG和IgM抗体血清阳性率，并评估其生活区域作为潜在风险因素。总共从希腊城市和农村地区（包括阿提卡和塞萨洛尼基）的狗身上采集了1282份血样。使用间接免疫荧光抗体试验检测血清样本中的特异性IgG和IgM抗体。进行卡方检验以评估弓形虫血清阳性与地理位置（城市/农村）之间的关联。总体血清阳性率为47.6%，而IgG和IgM抗体的血清阳性率分别为34.3%和22.2%。农村地区的狗血清阳性率（53.8%）显著高于城市地区的狗（43.9%）（P<0.001），估计比值比等于1.49（95%CI，1.18至1.65），相对风险增加22.4%。希腊的狗高度暴露于弓形虫，尤其是在农村地区。预防犬类感染的措施是必要的，并且需要基本的卫生习惯，如抚摸狗后洗手，以降低人类感染风险并保障公众健康。
