Abstract
BackgroundToxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite infecting almost all warm-blooded animals, including birds, with a worldwide distribution. Surveys of T. gondii infection in wild birds have been reported extensively in the world, but little is known of T. gondii infection in peafowls worldwide. This study was performed to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in peafowls in Yunnan Province, southwestern China.MethodsSera from 277 peafowls, including 272 blue peafowls (Pavo cristatus) and 5 green peafowls (Pavo muticus) originated from two geographic areas in Yunnan Province were assayed for T. gondii antibodies using the modified agglutination test (MAT).ResultsSpecific T. gondii antibodies were detected in 35 of 277 (12.64%) peafowls (MAT titer ≥ 1:5). Seropositive birds were found in both species, 33 in 272 blue peafowls and 2 in 5 green peafowls. There was no significant difference in T. gondii seroprevalence between the adolescent birds (6.74%) and the adult birds (6.67%) (P > 0.05). The geographical origins of peafowls was found to be highly associated with T. gondii infection in the present study, a statistically significant difference in T. gondii seropositivity was observed between peafowls from Kunming (31.08%) and those from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture (5.91%) (OR = 10.956, 95% CI = 1.632-73.545, P = 0.014). Statistical analyses showed that there were no significant interactions between ages and geographical origins of peafowls (P > 0.05).ConclusionsThe results of the present survey indicated that infection of peafowls with T. gondii is widespread in Yunnan Province, which has significant public health concerns and implications for prevention and control of toxoplamosis in this province. To our knowledge, this is the first seroprevalence report of T. gondii infection in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province.
Highlights
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite infecting almost all warm-blooded animals, including birds, with a worldwide distribution
Thirty-five of the 277 (12.64%) peafowl serum samples were positive for T. gondii antibodies by modified agglutination test (MAT) at the cut-off titer of 1:5, with titers of 1:5 in 17 samples (48.57%), 1:10 in 5 samples (14.29%), 1:20 in 4 samples (11.43%), 1:40 in 5 samples (14.29%) and 1:80 in 4 samples (11.43%)
T. gondii infection was detected in both blue peafowls (12.13%) and green peafowls (2/5) (Table 1)
Summary
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite infecting almost all warm-blooded animals, including birds, with a worldwide distribution. Wild and domestic felids are the definitive hosts of this protozoan parasite, being able to excrete sporulated oocysts into the environment. Intermediate hosts such as humans or birds can become infected post-natally by ingesting tissue cysts from undercooked meat, consuming food or drink contaminated with oocysts, or ingesting oocysts from the environment accidentally [2,9]. Surveys of T. gondii infection in wild birds have been reported extensively in the world, clinical cases have been reported and T. gondii is considered to be one of the causes of mortality in birds of different species [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Recent studies have identified a number of pathogens (such as avian influenza, avian pox) of potential conservation concern for this species [20,21,22], but such information still remains relatively limited
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