High prevalence and diversity of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in feral cat feces from coastal California.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite that can cause severe morbidity and mortality in warm-blooded animals, including marine mammals such as sea otters. Free-ranging cats can shed environmentally resistant T. gondii oocysts in their feces, which are transported through rain-driven runoff from land to sea. Despite their large population sizes and ability to contribute to environmental oocyst contamination, there are limited studies on T. gondii oocyst shedding by free-ranging cats. We aimed to determine the frequency and genotypes of T. gondii oocysts shed by free-ranging domestic cats in central coastal California and evaluate whether genotypes present in feces are similar to those identified in sea otters that died from fatal toxoplasmosis. We utilized a longitudinal field study of fo

SUBMITTER: Zhu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10756541 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature