Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among small mammals in Tatarstan, Russian Federation

Nikolai D Shamaev,Eduard A Shuralev,Vasil B Ziatdinov,Nail I Khammadov,Oleg V Nikitin,Yuriy N Davidyuk,Guzel Sh Isaeva,Gaysha R Salmanova,Alexander N Belyaev,Guzel M Akhmedova,Regina F Safina,Taizo Saito,Yasuhiro Takashima,Katsuya Kitoh,Kamil S Khaertynov,Malik N Mukminov

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01582-y

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite with a wide host range that includes humans, domestic animals and wild animals. Small mammals serve as intermediate hosts for T. gondii and may contribute to the persistence of this parasite in the environment. Mass mortality in wild animals and deaths in rare endemic species make the study of this parasite of growing importance. In this study, T. gondii infection prevalence was evaluated in brain tissues from 474 small mammals captured at 26 trapping points in urban and rural areas of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. Nested PCR was used to detect the T. gondii B1 gene in the samples. Overall, 40/474 samples (8.44%) showed B1 gene positivity. T. gondii infection among the wild small mammals trapped in the rural area was significantly higher as a whole than that of the urban area as a whole. Multivariate logistical regression analysis also showed that the trapping area (rural or urban) significantly contributed to T. gondii positivity. Vegetation in the trapping points, small mammal species, sex, age or distance from the trapping points to the nearest human settlements did not significantly affect T. gondii positivity in the sampled small mammals.

Highlights

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite with a wide host range that includes humans, domestic animals and wild animals
As far as we know, there is no report about T. gondii prevalence among wild rodents in other area of Russian Federation[15]
In several European countries (France, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland) the prevalence of T. gondii among wild small mammals living in rural forests was 3–7%, which is not dissimilar to our r esults[2]

Summary

Introduction

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite with a wide host range that includes humans, domestic animals and wild animals. T. gondii infection prevalence was evaluated in brain tissues from 474 small mammals captured at trapping points in urban and rural areas of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. T. gondii infection among the wild small mammals trapped in the rural area was significantly higher as a whole than that of the urban area as a whole. Multivariate logistical regression analysis showed that the trapping area (rural or urban) significantly contributed to T. gondii positivity. With its broad-host-range, it infects almost all mammals and birds including humans, domestic animals and wild animals. In a study conducted in Panama City, it was reported that T. gondii prevalence among small mammals was higher than in humans and birds from the same area[8]. The Volga-Kama Nature Reserve in Tatarstan contains approximately a quarter of the

Methods

Results

Conclusion