Toxoplasma gondii Survey in Waterfowl and Gulls from Eight USA States

Sawsan Ammar; Tania J Dawant; Janetta Kelly; Graham Hickling; Justin Brown; Kyle Van Why; Rebecca Poulson; Chunlei Su; Richard Gerhold

doi:10.7589/JWD-D-22-00132

Toxoplasma gondii Survey in Waterfowl and Gulls from Eight USA States

J Wildl Dis. 2024 Apr 1;60(2):542-545. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-22-00132.

Authors

Sawsan Ammar^{1

2}, Tania J Dawant¹, Janetta Kelly³, Graham Hickling³, Justin Brown⁴, Kyle Van Why⁵, Rebecca Poulson⁶, Chunlei Su⁷, Richard Gerhold¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, 2407 River Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
² Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sadat City, 1 Abdelmenam Ryad Street, Sadat City, Menofia 32511, Egypt.
³ Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, University of Tennessee, 427 Plant Biotechnology Building, University of Tennessee, 2505 E. J. Chapman Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
⁴ Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 108 AVBS Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
⁵ USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, PO Box 60827, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110, USA.
⁶ Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 589 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
⁷ Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, 1311 Cumberland Avenue, 307 Ken and Blaire Mossman Building, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.

PMID: 38345461
DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-22-00132

Abstract

Sera from 391 waterbirds from eight USA states were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the modified agglutination test. Fifteen different waterbird species (26.6%; n=104) were seropositive. Of the adults, 25.4% (n=52) showed a significantly higher T. gondii seroprevalence compared with juveniles (13.4%; n=17); however, sex was not a significant factor.

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; Protozoa; toxoplasmosis; waterbirds; waterfowl; zoonotic disease.

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Agglutination Tests / veterinary
Animals
Antibodies, Protozoan
Charadriiformes*
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Toxoplasma*
Toxoplasmosis, Animal* / epidemiology

Substances

Antibodies, Protozoan