1.Seroprevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi in Pet Rabbits in Korea.
Jin Cheol SHIN ; Dae Geun KIM ; Sang Hun KIM ; Suk KIM ; Kun Ho SONG
The Korean Journal of Parasitology 2014;52(3):321-323
Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a microsporidian parasite commonly found in rabbits that can infect humans, causing encephalitozoonosis. The prevalence of encephalitozoonosis is not well documented, even when many clinics suspect pet rabbits as being highly infected. This study investigated the seropositivity of E. cuniculi using ELISA. The examination of 186 rabbits using ELISA showed that 22.6% (42/186) were seropositive against E. cuniculi. In analysis with healthy status, all 42 seropositive sera were collected from clinically normal rabbits. Moreover, the gender and age of pet rabbits did not have anysignificant effect on E. cuniculi infection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the seroprevalence of E. cuniculi in pet rabbits and suggests that pet rabbits could act as an important reservoir of encephalitozoonosis for both pet animals and humans in Korea.
Animals
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Antibodies, Fungal/*blood
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Encephalitozoon cuniculi/*immunology
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Encephalitozoonosis/epidemiology/*veterinary
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
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Female
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Korea/epidemiology
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Male
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*Pets
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Rabbits
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Seroepidemiologic Studies
2.Seroprevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Toxoplasma gondii in domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in China.
Qing Feng MENG ; Wei Lin WANG ; Xiao Ting NI ; Hai Bin LI ; Gui Zhe YAO ; Xiao Lin SUN ; Wei Li WANG ; Wei CONG
The Korean Journal of Parasitology 2015;53(6):759-763
The breeding of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) for human consumption has a long tradition in China. Infections that can affect the production of meat or even be transmitted from animals to humans are important to monitor, especially for public health reasons as well as for their impact on animal health. Thus, a total of 1,132 domestic rabbit sera from 4 regions in China were collected for serological screening for Encephalitozoon cuniculi and for Toxoplasma gondii by ELISA and modified agglutination test (MAT), respectively. Antibodies to E. cuniculi were detected in 248/1,132 (21.9%) sera tested while antibodies against T. gondii revealed a seroprevalence of 51/1,132 (4.5%). We believe that the present results are of epidemiological implications and public health importance due to the acknowledged susceptibility of humans to E. cuniculi and T. gondii infections. Therefore, routine screening tests of domestic rabbits are proposed considering the zoonotic potential of these parasites.
Animals
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Animals, Domestic/blood/microbiology/parasitology
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Antibodies, Fungal/*blood
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Antibodies, Protozoan/*blood
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China/epidemiology
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Encephalitozoon cuniculi/*immunology/isolation & purification
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Encephalitozoonosis/blood/microbiology/*veterinary
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Female
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Male
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Rabbits/blood/microbiology/parasitology
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Seroepidemiologic Studies
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Toxoplasma/*immunology/isolation & purification
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Toxoplasmosis, Animal/*blood/parasitology