An Antibody-Based Survey of <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> and <i>Neospora caninum</i> Infection in Client-Owned Cats from Portugal
Maria Aires Pereira,
Carmen Nóbrega,
Teresa L. Mateus,
Daniela Almeida,
Andreia Oliveira,
Catarina Coelho,
Rita Cruz,
Paula Oliveira,
Ana Faustino-Rocha,
Maria J. Pires,
João R. Mesquita,
Helena Vala
Affiliations
Maria Aires Pereira
Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Carmen Nóbrega
Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Teresa L. Mateus
CISAS—Center for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun’Àlvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Daniela Almeida
ICBAS—Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Rua Jorge de Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Andreia Oliveira
Escola Superior Agrária de Ponte de Lima, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua D. Mendo Afonso, 147 Refóios do Lima, 4990-706 Ponte de Lima, Portugal
Catarina Coelho
Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Rita Cruz
Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Paula Oliveira
Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Ana Faustino-Rocha
Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Maria J. Pires
Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
João R. Mesquita
EpiUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), Rua das Taipas, n° 135, 4050-091 Porto, Portugal
Helena Vala
Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites infecting a wide range of hosts worldwide. However, information on the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis and neosporosis in cats from Portugal is limited. Thus, this study aims to evaluate anti-T. gondii and anti-N. caninum seroprevalence in client-owned cats from Portugal and to identify risk factors using a panel of well-characterized sera. A total of 183 domestic cats were sampled and screened for antibodies against T. gondii and N. caninum using commercial ELISA assays, and their owners answered an online questionnaire designed to obtain background information. The overall anti-T. gondii and anti-N. caninum seroprevalences were 13.1% (CI: 8.97–18.77) and 3.8% (CI: 1.87–7.68), respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that living strictly indoors was a significant protection factor (cOR: 0.053; CI: 0.005–0.627), and the presence of a chronic disease a significant risk factor (cOR: 3.106; CI: 1.062–9.082) to T. gondii seroprevalence. When performing multivariate analysis, only chronic disease (aOR: 57.527; CI: 1.7–1976.7) and seropositivity to N. caninum (aOR: 7.929; CI:0.8–82.9) were found to be a significant risk factor to anti-T. gondii antibodies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. caninum seropositivity in cats from Portugal.
