Role of Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Grenada, West Indies.

Role of Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Grenada, West Indies. J Parasitol. 2018 Jul 09;: Authors: Murata F, Cerqueira-Cezar C, Kwok O, Tiwari K, Sharma R, Su C, Dubey JP Abstract Rodents are known to be reservoir hosts of Toxoplasma gondii infection for other animals, including cats and pigs. From February to July, 2017, 167 rats (Rattus norvegicus) were trapped in Grenada and serum, heart, skeletal muscle and brain were examined for T. gondii infection by serological examination (Modified agglutination test, MAT, 1:25) for T. gondii antibodies and for viable parasites by bioassay in mice. Samples of heart, skeletal muscle and brain of all rats were bioassayed in Swiss Webster (SW) outbred albino mice and interferon gamma gene knockout (KO) mice. Toxoplasma gondii was isolated from heart and brain from 1 rat; this was the only seropositive rat. The T. gondii strain was avirulent for SW mice but killed KO mice. Tissue cysts were detected in the brains of SW mice and tachyzoites were detected in the lungs of KO mice that died of acute toxoplasmosis. The strain was propogated in cell culture and DNA derived from cell-cultured tachyzoites was genotyped using the 10 PCR-RFLP (SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1 and Apico). The strain was a clonal Type III (ToxoDB genotype #2) strain. Although the prevalence of T. gondii in humans and animals in Grenada is high, rats seems to...
Source: The Journal of Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Tags: J Parasitol Source Type: research