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Seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in stray dogs in northern China

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Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan of almost all species of mammals and birds. However, no information is available about seroprevalence of the pathogen in stray dogs in seven cities from Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning province, China. Using the indirect hemagglutination antibody (IHA) test with a cutoff titer of 1:64, 129 (14.05 %) out of 918 stray dogs were surveyed to be T. gondii seropositive. Analysis of the risk factor showed that there was no statistical difference of seroprevalence of T. gondii between males (13.46 %) and females (14.54 %) (P > 0.05). The seropositive rates of T. gondii infection in stray dogs among the seven cities in northern China were significant statistically different (P = 0.005). Moreover, seroprevalence of T. gondii in dogs were varied from 11.01 % (95 % CI 6.94–15.09) to 16.86 % (95 % CI 12.27–21.46) among different age groups, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.03). More importantly, T. gondii seropositive in stray dogs has a declining tendence from 2011 to 2015 (P = 0.004). The results of the present study showed that stray dogs in Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning province, China are exposed to T. gondii, for the first time, and could also provide a foundation data for prevent and control T. gondii infection in dogs, other animals and humans.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (863 Program) (2013AA102806, 2011AA10A215) and Key Scientific and Technological Project of Jilin Province (Grant No. 20140204068NY).

Compliance with ethical standards

All operations were handled in strict accordance with the Good Animal Practice requirements of the Animal Ethics Procedures and Guidelines of the People’s Republic of China. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Jilin Agricultural University (Approval No. JAUAEC2011-006).

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province, 130118, People’s Republic of China

      Xiao-Xuan Zhang, Ya-Nan Cai, Chun-Feng Wang, Gui-Lian Yang & Quan Zhao

    2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Shuangyang, Jilin Province, 130600, People’s Republic of China

      Jing Jiang

    3. College of Agriculture, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin Province, 133002, People’s Republic of China

      Ying-Tian Xu

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    1. Xiao-Xuan Zhang
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    2. Ya-Nan Cai
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    3. Chun-Feng Wang
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    Correspondence to Gui-Lian Yang or Quan Zhao.

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    Xiao-Xuan Zhang and Ya-Nan Cai contributed equally to this work.

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    Zhang, XX., Cai, YN., Wang, CF. et al. Seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in stray dogs in northern China. Parasitol Res 114, 4725–4729 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4746-y

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4746-y

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