Abstract:

Peripheral blood samples were collected from pet dogs and cats at a veterinary clinic in Wuhu from May to October, 2019, to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in pet dogs and cats in Wuhu urban area. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology was used to detect Toxoplasma gondii in pet dog and cat samples. T. gondii were detected from 26 of the 500 samples. The overall positive rate is 5.2% with 2.8% (7/250) for dogs, and 7.6% (19/250) for cats, respectively, the difference was statistically significant (χ ² = 5.842, P < 0.05). The positive rate in male and female pet dogs was 2.7% (4/147) and 2.9% (3/103), respectively, the positive rates in younger pet dogs (age ≤ 3 years) and elder dogs (age > 3 years) were 2.4% (4/166) and 3.6% (3/84), respectively, with no statistically significant difference (χ ² = 0.000, 0.014, P > 0.05). The positive rates in male and female cats were 8.3% (10/120) and 6.9% (9/130), respectively, with no statistically significant difference (χ ² = 1.177, P > 0.05). The positive rates in younger pets (age ≤ 3 years) and elder pets (age > 3 years) were 6.5% (12/185) and 10.8% (7/65), respectively. The difference was statistically significant (χ ² = 1.256, P < 0.05). The results suggested a relatively high prevalence of T. gondii in dogs and cats in Wuhu urban area, which may potentially infect human.

Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, Dog, Cat, Wuhu City