Abstract
Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, which can infect diverse hosts, including dogs. Although T. gondii infection in dogs is usually subclinical, they are susceptible to infection and develop a specific immune response to the parasite. In 2018, the largest outbreak of human toxoplasmosis in the world occurred in Santa Maria, in southern Brazil; however, the impact of this outbreak on other hosts was not investigated at the time. Considering that dogs often share the same environmental sources of infection as humans, mainly water sources, and that in Brazil, the detection rates of anti-T. gondii immunoglobulin G (IgG) in dogs is very high, this study investigated the frequency of anti-T. gondii IgG in dogs in Santa Maria before and after the outbreak. A total of 2.245 serum samples were analyzed, 1159 collected before the outbreak and 1086 collected after the outbreak. Serum samples were tested for anti-T. gondii antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). The infection detection of T. gondii was 16% (185/1159) before the outbreak and 43% (466/1086) after the outbreak. These results showed the infection of dogs with T. gondii and the high frequency of anti-T. gondii antibodies in dogs after the outbreak in humans in 2018, reinforcing water as a possible source of infection and the importance of including toxoplasmosis in the differential diagnosis of dogs.
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All authors contributed to perform research, interpreting the results, writing and critically revising the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Ana Paula G. Mortari, Larissa Godoy Tagarra, Isac Junior Roman, Cínthia Melazzo de Andrade, Luis Antonio Sangioni and Fernanda S. F. Vogel hold fellowships from the by "Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico" (CNPq). This research was partially funded by the "Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil" (CAPES)—Financial Code 001.
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CRediT taxonomy: Conceptualization: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel, Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti; Data curation: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel, Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti; Formal analysis and investigation: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel, Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti; Methodology: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Larissa Godoy Tagarra, Isac Junior Roman, Michelli Lopes de Souza, Fabiana Raquel Ratzlaff; Writing—original draft preparation: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel; Writing—review and editing: Ana Paula Gnocato Mortari, Michelli Lopes de Souza, Isac Junior Roman, Patricia Braunig, Luis Antonio Sangioni, Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel, Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti; Resources: Cínthia Melazzo de Andrade; Supervision: Fernanda Silveira Flôres Vogel.
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Mortari, A.P.G., Tagarra, L.G., de Souza, M.L. et al. Increased seroprevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in dogs in southern Brazil after an outbreak of human toxoplasmosis. Parasitol Res 122, 1009–1014 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07808-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07808-4