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Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic protozoan that has a worldwide distribution, is known to infect many warm-blooded
vertebrates. The feline species including
domestic cats are the definitive hosts for Toxoplama gondii and shed the infective
oocyst. There is lack of information on the
prevalence of
Toxoplasma gondii in
cats in
Malaysia. The objective of this study was to determine both the
seroprevalence of T. gondii and the
prevalence of T. gondii
DNA in
cats’
feces in Klang Valley,
Malaysia. 198
blood and 201 fecal samples were collected from
pet and stray
cats from the local council, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) and
University Veterinary Hospital, Universiti Putra
Malaysia respectively. The overall
seroprevalence of
Toxoplasma gondii in
cats in the Klang Valley was found to be 5.5%. There was a high
prevalence (10.5%) of T. gondii
DNA detected in the
cat fecal samples in both
pet and stray
cats suggestive of T. gondii
oocyst shedding. Stray
cats showed a higher
seroprevalence and molecular
prevalence of T. gondii than the
pet cats. However, comparative
analysis using
Chi-square test showed no significant difference between both groups (P>0.05). Higher
prevalence (10.5%) of
cats shedding T. gondii
DNA as compared to the
seroprevalence (5.5%) was found in the
cat population in the Klang Valley. The high
prevalence of
cats shedding T. gondii
DNA is alarming as this may directly reflect the number of
oocysts excreted into the
environment posing a significant
public health hazard.