Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in common moles, Talpa europaea, was investigated in order to determine whether moles can serve as an indicator species for T. gondii infections in livestock.FindingsIn total, 86 moles were caught from 25 different sites in the Netherlands. Five different trapping habitats were distinguished: pasture, garden, forest, roadside, and recreation area. No positive samples (brain cysts) were found during microscopic detection (n = 70). Using the Latex Agglutination Test (LAT), sera of 70 moles were examined, whereby no sample reacted with T. gondii antigen. Real Time-PCR tests on brain tissue showed 2 positive samples (2.3%).ConclusionsBecause of the low number of positives in our study, the use of the common mole as an indicator species for livestock infections is currently not recommended.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13028-014-0048-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in common moles, Talpa europaea, was investigated in order to determine whether moles can serve as an indicator species for T. gondii infections in livestock
Because of the low number of positives in our study, the use of the common mole as an indicator species for livestock infections is currently not recommended
If cats that were not previously exposed to T. gondii consume infected intermediate hosts tissue, they can start shedding oocysts which may disperse into the soil by precipitation [13] and be taken up by earthworms [14]
Summary
The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in common moles, Talpa europaea, was investigated in order to determine whether moles can serve as an indicator species for T. gondii infections in livestock. Conclusions: Because of the low number of positives in our study, the use of the common mole as an indicator species for livestock infections is currently not recommended. We test whether the common mole (Talpa europea), whose staple food consists of earthworms [18], can be an indicator species for T. gondii. Use of an indicator species would be beneficial as this reduces the need to obtain blood samples from livestock to measure T. gondii prevalence.
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