Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dogs in Jinzhou City, Northeast China

To investigate the prevalence of dogs exposed to Toxoplasma gondii in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, northeast China, 304 dogs were screened for specific antibodies to T. gondii by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercially-marketed kit. The overall prevalence of T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 82 of 304 (26.97%) dogs with regional variations, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The study also showed that prevalence increased significantly with age ranging from 18.49 to 45.20%, of which, the prevalence of dogs >3 years was significantly higher than those <1 year (P < 0.01). The results of our study indicated that dogs in Jinzhou had a relatively high T. gondii seroprevalence, which has implications for public health in this region.