The Prevalence of Toxoplasmosis in Cats at Private Veterinary Hospital Multan, Pakistan

Zahida Tasawar, *Mushtaq Hussain Lashari, Shazia Anwar and Fariha Aziz

Institute of Pure and Applied Biology Bahauddin Zakariya Multan

*Corresponding Author’s Email: mushtaqlashary@gmail.com

Accepted 10 April, 2013

Abstract

Cats are the natural reservoir of Toxoplasma gondii and release the resistant eggs in the environment.  During the present study 164 cats were examined for Toxoplasma gondii at veterinary Hospital in Multan, Pakistan.  A floatation technique was used for the prevalence of eggs in fecal samples of cats.  Out of 164 cats, 104 (63.41%) were infected with Toxoplasma gondii.  The parasite was more prevalent (67.0%) in male hosts as compared to female hosts.  The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii was highest (70.14%) in age group of 1 month to 10 years, and the infection was 0% in the age group of 11 to 15years.  In conclusion the toms showed higher infection than cat and the infection rate was maximum in younger animals. 

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, cat, age, sex prevalence.