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Small mammals: paratenic hosts for species of Toxocara in eastern Slovakia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2012

D. Antolová ,
K. Reiterová ,
M. Stanko ,
G. Zalesny ,
J. Fričová  and
E. Dvorožňáková
D. Antolová*
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, Košice, Slovak Republic
K. Reiterová
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, Košice, Slovak Republic
M. Stanko
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, Košice, Slovak Republic Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Löfflerova 10, Košice, Slovak Republic
G. Zalesny
Affiliation:
Department of Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology, Institute of Biology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Kozuchowska 5b, Wroclaw, Poland
J. Fričová
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, Košice, Slovak Republic
E. Dvorožňáková
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, Košice, Slovak Republic
*
* Fax: +421 55 633 14 14, E-mail: antolova@saske.sk
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Abstract

Toxocara spp., an aetiological agent of a serious helminthozoonosis, is a common roundworm of domestic and wild carnivores worldwide. The study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of Toxocara in small mammals from different localities in eastern Slovakia. Anti-Toxocara antibodies were detected in 6.4% out of 2140 examined animals trapped in eastern Slovakia. Due to their high density and observed high seroprevalence of toxocariasis, Apodemus agrarius, A. flavicollis, Myodes glareolus and Mus spicilegus (10.9, 4.2, 3.6 and 11.2%, respectively) represent important sources of the infection. A significant correlation between type of food and Toxocara positivity was detected: granivores (7.2%) and invertebratophages (7.1%) were positive more frequently than herbivores (2.1%). In the years monitored, cyclic changes of seroprevalence were observed. A higher prevalence of antibodies in the spring was followed by a decrease in summer. In autumn, seroprevalence started to rise and stayed at a similar level through the winter. Seroprevalence of the examined animals confirms their contact with Toxocara spp. and demonstrates the presence of the aetiological agent in the monitored locality. Areas with a high prevalence of infected animals present constant infectious pressure on definitive hosts, thus also increasing infection risk for humans and paratenic hosts. The study confirmed the contact of small mammals with Toxocara spp. and demonstrated the presence and circulation of an aetiological agent in the localities monitored in eastern Slovakia.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 87 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 52 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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