Toxo

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Parasitol Int. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 June 1.

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Published in final edited form as:
Parasitol Int. 2009 June ; 58(2): 161–165. doi:10.1016/j.parint.2009.01.008.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild kangaroos using an
ELISA
N. Parameswarana,*, RM. O'Handleyb, ME. Griggc, SG. Fenwicka, and RCA.Thompsona
a WHO Collaborating Centre for the Molecular Epidemiology of Parasitic Infections, School of
Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
b

Environmental Biotechnology CRC, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150

c Molecular Parasitology Unit, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, NIAID,

4 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD20892, USA

Abstract
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Infection with Toxoplasma gondii is a significant problem in Australian marsupials, and can lead to
devastating disease and predispose animals to predation. T. gondii infection in kangaroos is also of
public health significance due to the kangaroo meat trade. A moderate seroprevalence of T. gondii
was observed in a study of western grey kangarooslocated in the Perth metropolitan area in Western
Australia. Of 219 kangaroos tested, 15.5% (95%CI: 10.7-20.3) were positive for T. gondii antibodies
using an ELISA developed to detect T. gondii IgG in macropod marsupials. When compared with
the commercially available MAT (modified agglutination test), the ELISA developed was in absolute
agreement and yielded a κ coefficient of 1.00. Of 18kangaroos tested for the presence of T. gondii
DNA by PCR, the 9 ELISA positive kangaroos tested PCR positive and the 9 ELISA negative
kangaroos tested PCR negative indicating the ELISA protocol was both highly specific and sensitive
and correlated 100% with the more labour intensive PCR assay.

Keywords
Toxoplasma gondii; Marsupial; Serology; ELISA; Prevalence; Australia

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1. Introduction
Australian marsupials are among the most susceptible hosts for Toxoplasma gondii and the
parasite is known to cause both chronic and acute infection [1,2]. Infection in marsupials is not
always fatal and can result in long-term latent infection which may be reactivated during times
of stress [3]. T. gondii infection may make a marsupial more prone to predation byaffecting
its movement, coordination and sight [4,5]. Not only is infection with T. gondii attributed to
causing declines in marsupial populations in the wild [6,7], toxoplasmosis is associated with
widespread pathology and death in several collections of captive marsupials [8-16]. Captivity
is a stressor and therefore thought to increase the chance of reactivated T. gondii infection [1,

*Corresponding author. WHO Collaborating Centre for the Molecular Epidemiology of Parasitic Infections, School of Veterinary and
Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch WA 6150, Australia. Tel: +61893602690. Fax: +61893104144. E-mail address:
nevi.parameswaran@gmail.com.
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Parameswaran et al.Page 2

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3,17]. Clinical signs of toxoplasmosis in Australian marsupials vary and include diarrhoea,
respiratory distress, weight loss, blindness, neurological deficits and sudden death [18].
Common histopathological findings include myocardial, skeletal and smooth muscle necrosis,
with T. gondii cysts and tachyzoites in areas of necrosis and interstitial...