Abstract

To investigate the prevalence of dogs exposed to Toxoplasma gondii in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, northeast China, 304 dogs were screened for specific antibodies to T. gondii by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercially-marketed kit. The overall prevalence of T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 82 of 304 (26.97%) dogs with regional variations, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The study also showed that prevalence increased significantly with age ranging from 18.49 to 45.20%, of which, the prevalence of dogs >3 years was significantly higher than those <1 year (P < 0.01). The results of our study indicated that dogs in Jinzhou had a relatively high T. gondii seroprevalence, which has implications for public health in this region.

Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, Toxoplasmosis, dog, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), seroprevalence, Jinzhou, Northeastern China.