Journal article
Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus and Toxoplasma gondii in Feral Cats on St. Kitts, West Indies
Veterinary Sciences, Vol.8(2), Art. 16
2021
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a cosmopolitan protozoan parasite that infects all warm-blooded species including humans. The definitive hosts of T. gondii are felid vertebrates including the domestic cat. Domestic cats shed oocysts for approximately two weeks in their feces after the primary infection. It has been shown that feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) positive cats have a higher prevalence of and a higher titer of antibodies to T. gondii than those of FIV-negative cats. The main purposes of this study were to determine FIV prevalence and to investigate the oocysts shedding in FIV-positive and FIV-negative feral cats on St. Kitts. Fecal samples were collected from feral cats while their FIV statues were determined using a commercial SNAP kit. Total fecal DNA of each cat was tested for the presence of T. gondii DNA using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) consistently detecting one genome equivalent. A FIV-positive status was detected in 18 of 105 (17.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 9.9%−24.3%) feral cats sampled. Furthermore, males were three times more likely to be FIV positive than females (p = 0.017) with an odds ratio of 3.93 (95% CI: 1.20–12.89). Adults were found to have at least twice the prevalence of FIV compared to cats younger than one year of age (p = 0.056) with an odds ratio of 3.07 (95% CI: 0.94–10.00). Toxoplasma gondii DNA was not detected in the feces of any of the 18 FIV-positive (95% CI: 0%−0.18%) and 87 FIV-negative cats (95% CI: 0%−0.04%). A follow-up study with a much bigger sample size is needed to prove or disprove the hypothesis that FIV-positive cats have a higher prevalence of shedding T. gondii oocysts than FIV-negative cats.
Details
- Title
- Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus and Toxoplasma gondii in Feral Cats on St. Kitts, West Indies
- Authors/Creators
- X. Chi (Author/Creator)K. Fang (Author/Creator)L. Koster (Author/Creator)J. Christie (Author/Creator)C. Yao (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Veterinary Sciences, Vol.8(2), Art. 16
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Identifiers
- 991005545188407891
- Copyright
- © 2021 MDPI
- Murdoch Affiliation
- The Animal Hospital At Murdoch University
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
82 File views/ downloads
75 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.217 Parasitology - Malaria, Toxoplasmosis & Coccidiosis
- 1.217.1038 Toxoplasma Gondii
- Web Of Science research areas
- Veterinary Sciences
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science