Exposure of Urban European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to Toxoplasma gondii in Highly Populated Areas of Northeast Spain
View/Open
Author
Escudero, Alejandra
Puig Ribas, Maria
Obón, Elena
Almería, Sonia
Gholipour, Hojjat
Molina-López, Rafael
Publication date
2024-05-28ISSN
2076-2615
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a generalist zoonotic parasite that involves a wide range of warm-blooded animals as intermediate hosts and felines as definitive hosts. Recent studies have proved significant positive associations between human population density and T. gondii seroprevalence in wildlife. However, there is limited data regarding T. gondii wildlife in urban areas, where the highest human density occurs. The present study aimed to analyse the T. gondii exposure in urban hedgehogs from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, NE Spain. One hundred eighteen hedgehogs were analysed for the presence of antibodies (modified agglutination test; n = 55) and parasite DNA (qPCR; heart = 34; brain = 60). Antibodies were detected in 69.09% of hedgehogs. T. gondii DNA was not detected in any of the analysed samples. The present study reports a high T. gondii seroprevalence in urban hedgehogs in areas surrounding Barcelona, the most densely human-populated area of NE Spain, reinforcing the association between human population density and environmental T. gondii oocysts. The lack of detection by molecular techniques warrants more studies. In the last few decades, the distribution and abundance of European hedgehogs have declined, including their urban populations. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of T. gondii on hedgehog populations.
Document Type
Chapter or part of a book
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
619 - Veterinary science
Pages
9
Publisher
MDPI
Is part of
Animals
Citation
Escudero, Alejandra, Maria Puig Ribas, Elena Obón, Sonia Almería, Xavier Fernández Aguilar, Hojjat Gholipour, Oscar Cabezón, and Rafael Molina-López. 2024. “Exposure of Urban European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus Europaeus) to Toxoplasma Gondii in Highly Populated Areas of Northeast Spain.” Animals 14 (11): 1596. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14111596.
Program
Sanitat Animal
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2694]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/