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. 2021 Apr 6;10(4):432.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens10040432.

Seroprevalence and Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in Animals in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area, China

Guojing Li  1   2 , Wangli Zheng  1   2 , Jinfang Yang  1   2 , Tongsheng Qi  1   2 , Yongcai He  1   2 , Wangkai Chen  1   2 , Hejia Ma  1   2 , Yali Sun  1   2 , Ying Li  1   2 , Ming Kang  1   2 , Jixu Li  1   2
Affiliations

Seroprevalence and Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in Animals in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area, China

Guojing Li et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii belongs to the Apicomplexan protozoa-an obligate intracellular parasite-causing toxoplasmosis that has a worldwide distribution and is very harmful to both human health and the livestock industry. However, the information on toxoplasmosis in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area (QTPA) and the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the food-borne animals in that area has been limited. Therefore, this study focused to T. gondii and toxoplasmosis to perform an indirect ELISA test based on recombinant TgSAG2 protein to establish a comprehensive record of the seroprevalence of T. gondii infections in a wide range of animals, including Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries), yaks (Bos grunniens), cows, chicken, pigs, and horses, in the QTPA. Overall, the seropositive rates of the specific-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies in all investigated animals were 44.1% (1179/2673) and 18.0% (469/2612), respectively. The 14.9% (389/2612) sera were determined to be both IgG and IgM positive samples, 30.2% (789/2673) were single-IgG seropositive, and a total of 80 in 2612 animals (3.0%) were single-IgM seropositive. Moreover, for the animal species, the pig was the most prevalent animal (90.2%, 304/337) for IgG positivity, followed by Tibetan sheep (50.7%, 460/907), chickens (45.8%, 229/500), yaks (21.1%, 140/663), cows (18.5%, 38/205) and horses (13.1%, 8/61), respectively. For the IgM antibody positivity, the pig was also the most prevalent animal (41.8%, 141/337), followed by Tibetan sheep (21.2%, 191/907), cows (15.1%, 31/205), chickens (12.4%, 62/500) and yaks (6.6%, 44/663), respectively. The significant differences in the prevalent distribution of T. gondii were found in the different altitudes. In conclusion, this study found the high seroprevalence for T. gondii infections among these animal species in the QTPA, and provides new data to facilitate further research for development of control measures against T. gondii infections in the surveyed locations.

Keywords: ELISA; IgG; IgM; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area; Toxoplasma gondii; animals; toxoplasmosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The map of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area and Qinghai province, showing the name of sampling sites and the height above sea level of sampling site per sampling site included. The Tibetan sheep, yak, cow, chicken, pig, and horse serum samples were collected at two cities and six prefectures of the Qinghai province indicated by the black circle. The figure was generated and modified using GIMP 2.8.10 (gimp-2.8.22-setup, https://www.gimp.org/, accessed on 20 February 2021).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The confirmation of the rTgGRA7-based indirect ELISA. (A) The positive and negative serum samples of mice for T. gondii or the positive serum samples of mice for N. caninum were used to develop the ELISA assay. (B,C) The cut-off values for the positive samples of T. gondii IgG (B) and IgM (C) were determined by using negative controls of Tibetan sheep, yaks, cows, chickens and pigs, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The seroprevalence among different animals. (A,B) The seroprevalence for IgG positivity in the Tibetan sheep, yaks, cows, chickens, pigs, and horses. (C,D) The seroprevalence for IgM positivity in the Tibetan sheep, yaks, cows, chickens, pigs, and horses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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