Toxoplasma gondii prevalence in carnivorous wild birds in the eastern United States.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonotic protozoan parasite that can infect all warm-blooded animals including mammals and birds. Raptors can be intermediate hosts for T. gondii and the infection may be dependent on their feeding habits. In this study, we investigated the seroprevalence of T. gondii in ten raptor species from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee followed by a parasite bioassay on select seropositive samples. From a total of 155 raptors, we detected T. gondii antibodies using a modified agglutination test (cutoff 1:25) in 32 (20.6%) birds. The T. gondii seroprevalence was 44.8% in Falconiformes (13/29), 75% in Strigiformes (15/20), and 3.8% in Ciconiiformes (4/106). All Ciconiiformes samples (hearts and sera) were collected from Pennsylv

SUBMITTER: Ammar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8141412 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature