RESUMEN
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are closely related coccidian parasites infecting a wide range of wild and domestic animals as intermediate hosts, and rodents serve as important reservoir hosts during the life cycles of these parasites. The present study is aimed at identifying T. gondii and N. caninum infection in 360 wild house mice (Mus musculus) collected across the Czech-German border, where 2 genetically distinct mouse subspecies meet and hybridize. Toxoplasma gondii or N. caninum DNA was detected in the brains of individual mice by PCR, but mixed infections were never observed. No significant differences in gender or trapping localities were found in the positive mice. The survey reveals a low frequency of T. gondii (0.6%) and N. caninum (3.6%) occurrence in the house mice population of the monitored part of the hybrid zone.
Asunto(s)
Coccidiosis/veterinaria , Ratones/parasitología , Neospora/aislamiento & purificación , Enfermedades de los Roedores/parasitología , Toxoplasmosis Animal/parasitología , Animales , Animales Salvajes , Encéfalo/parasitología , Quimera , Coccidiosis/epidemiología , Coccidiosis/parasitología , Checoslovaquia/epidemiología , ADN Protozoario/aislamiento & purificación , Reservorios de Enfermedades , Femenino , Alemania/epidemiología , Masculino , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa/veterinaria , Prevalencia , Enfermedades de los Roedores/epidemiología , Toxoplasma/aislamiento & purificación , Toxoplasmosis Animal/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
To test the different sensitivity of rodents of the subfamily Murinae and Gerbillinae, Wagner's gerbils (Gerbillus dasyurus), Tristram's jirds (Meriones tristrami) and multimammate rats (Mastomys natalensis) were inoculated with Neospora caninum tachyzoites. Clinical signs of neosporosis appeared in all inoculated animals. Histopathological examination confirmed the presence of tachyzoites in brains, lungs, skeletal muscle, myocardium, liver, in serosa of stomach and intestines, and in vesicular accessory genital glands. An examination of brains by PCR revealed presence of N. caninum DNA in all experimentally N. caninum infected rodents. The susceptibility of Wagner's gerbils and Tristram's jirds further proved the high sensitivity of gerbiline rodents to the N. caninum infection. The finding of N. caninum tachyzoites in the vesicular accessory genital glands of the infected gerbils suggests the usefulness of the rodent model for demonstration of N. caninum in the male reproductive system. Moreover, the multimammate rat was a susceptible experimental host to be the first immunocompetent rodent of the subfamily Murinae.