Philippa McKay
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in burrowing bettongs (Bettongia lesueur): a comparison of cat-free and cat-exposed populations
McKay, Philippa; Hufschmid, Jasmin; Meredith, Anna L.; Zendejas-Heredia, Patsy A.; Moseby, Katherine E.
Authors
Jasmin Hufschmid
Professor Anna Meredith a.l.meredith@keele.ac.uk
Patsy A. Zendejas-Heredia
Katherine E. Moseby
Contributors
Anna Meredith
Other
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan transmitted by felids and infection, morbidity, and mortality occur in numerous marsupial species. This study explores the relationship between cat exposure and Toxoplasma in burrowing bettongs (Bettongia lesueur) in the Arid Recovery Reserve (ARR), South Australia. We estimated seroprevalence, using a modified agglutination test for T. gondii-specific immunoglobulins, in cat-free and cat-exposed bettong populations. Tissue samples collected opportunistically from bettong carcasses and from cats within and around the reserve were screened for T. gondii DNA using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (M-qPCR). Two cats trapped inside the ARR tested positive (50.0%; 95% CI: 15.0–85.0%). All bettongs tested from the cat-free (n = 48) and cat-exposed (n = 19) exclosures were seronegative (95% CI: 0–7.41% and 0–16.82% respectively). We found no evidence of fatal toxoplasmosis, with all bettong carcasses negative on M-qPCR (n = 11). We propose that T. gondii was not detected in bettongs coexisting with cats primarily due to low exposure of bettongs at the time of sampling, possibly due to poor oocyst viability in arid conditions or low shedding by cats. Ongoing screening throughout high and low rainfall years should be conducted to better establish the risk of Toxoplasma to bettongs in the ARR.
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | May 31, 2022 |
Publication Date | Jul 20, 2022 |
Deposit Date | Mar 12, 2024 |
Journal | Australian Journal of Zoology |
Print ISSN | 0004-959X |
Publisher | CSIRO Publishing |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 69 |
Issue | 5 |
Pages | 175-183 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1071/zo22010 |
Keywords | arid zone, Australian native marsupials, feral cats, modified agglutination test, multiplex real-time PCR, parasite, reintroduction, toxoplasmosis. |
You might also like
Capacity building for wildlife health professionals: the Wildlife Health Bridge
(2022)
Journal Article
Hacking techniques improve health and nutritional status of nestling White-tailed Eagles
(2023)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Keele Repository
Administrator e-mail: research.openaccess@keele.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search