Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

"Sang-Ik Park"

Original Article

Excretion of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts from Feral Cats in Korea: Kyu-Sung Ahn, Ah-Jin Ahn, Sang-ik Park, Woon-Mok Sohn, Jae-han Shim, Sung-Shik Shin; Korean J Parasitol 2019;57(6):665-670.
Published online December 31, 2019; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2019.57.6.665

Abstract
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Sporulated oocysts from the feces of infected cats with Toxoplasma gondii can cause detrimental disease in both humans and animals. To investigate the prevalence of feral cats that excrete T. gondii oocysts in the feces, we examined fecal samples of 563 feral cats over a 3-year period from 2009 to 2011. Oocysts of T. gondii excreted into the feces were found from 4 of 128 cats in 2009 (3.1%) and one of 228 (0.4%) in 2010 while none of the 207 cats in 2010 were found positive with oocysts in their feces, resulting in an overall prevalence rate of 0.89% (5/563) between 2009 and 2011. Among the 5 cats that tested positive with T. gondii oocysts, 4 of the cats were male and 1 was a female with an average body weight of 0.87 kg. Numerous tissue cysts of 60 ?m in diameter with thin (<0.5 ?m) cyst walls were found in the brain of one of the 5 cats on necropsy 2 months after the identification of oocysts in the feces. A PCR amplification of the T. gondii-like oocysts in the feces of the positive cats using the primer pairs Tox-5/Tox-8 and Hham34F/Hham3R confirmed the presence of T. gondii oocysts in the feces. This study provides a good indication of the risk assessment of feral cats in the transmission of T. gondii to humans in Korea.

Citations

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Toxoplasmosis, Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Parasitic in Domestic Cats in Al-Marj City - Libya
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Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
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Ju Yeong Kim, You Shine Kwak, In-Yong Lee, Tai-Soon Yong
The Korean Journal of Parasitology.2020; 58(3): 327. CrossRef
Seroprevalence and B1 gene Phylogeny of Toxoplasma gondii of Dogs and Cats in Republic of Korea
Yeojin Park, Jinhyeong Noh, Hyun-Ji Seo, Keun-Ho Kim, Subin Min, Mi-Sun Yoo, Bo-Ram Yun, Jong-Ho Kim, Eun-Jin Choi, Doo-Sung Cheon, Sung-Jong Hong, Soon-Seek Yoon, Yun Sang Cho
The Korean Journal of Parasitology.2020; 58(3): 257. CrossRef
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Dongmi Kwak, Min-Goo Seo
Pathogens.2020; 9(11): 894. CrossRef

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Brief Communication

Efficacy of Ronidazole for Treatment of Cats Experimentally Infected with a Korean Isolate of Tritrichomonas foetus: Sun Lim, Sang-Ik Park, Kyu-Sung Ahn, Dae-Sung Oh, Sung-Shik Shin; Korean J Parasitol 2012;50(2):161-164.
Published online May 24, 2012; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2012.50.2.161

Abstract
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To evaluate the efficacy of ronidazole for treatment of Tritrichomonas foetus infection, 6 Tritrichomonas-free kittens were experimentally infected with a Korean isolate of T. foetus. The experimental infection was confirmed by direct microscopy, culture, and single-tube nested PCR, and all cats demonstrated trophozoites of T. foetus by day 20 post-infection in the feces. From day 30 after the experimentally induced infection, 3 cats were treated with ronidazole (50 mg/kg twice a day for 14 days) and 3 other cats received placebo. Feces from each cat were tested for the presence of T. foetus by direct smear and culture of rectal swab samples using modified Diamond's medium once a week for 4 weeks. To confirm the culture results, the presence of T. foetus rRNA gene was determined by single-tube nested PCR assay. All 3 cats in the treatment group receiving ronidazole showed negative results for T. foetus infection during 2 weeks of treatment and 4 weeks follow-up by all detection methods used in this study. In contrast, rectal swab samples from cats in the control group were positive for T. foetus continuously throughout the study. The present study indicates that ronidazole is also effective to treat cats infected experimentally with a Korean isolate of T. foetus at a dose of 50 mg/kg twice a day for 14 days.

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Case Reports

Concurrent Capillaria and Heterakis Infections in Zoo Rock Partridges, Alectoris graeca: Sang-Ik Park, Sung-Shik Shin; Korean J Parasitol 2010;48(3):253-257.
Published online September 16, 2010; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2010.48.3.253

Abstract
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Two adult rock partridges raised in a city zoo were examined parasitologically and pathologically. Two distinctive eggs resembling those of Capillaria and Heterakis were detected in the feces. At necropsy, a markedly-dilated duodenum with severe catarrhal exudates, containing adult worms of Capillaria sp. and Heterakis sp. in the cecum, was observed. Male Capillaria had the cloacal aperture extended almost terminally with a small bursal lobe and an unsheathed spicule with transverse folds without spines. Female Capillaria had a vulva that was slightly prominent and slightly posterior to the union of the esophagus and intestine. The esophagus of the adult Capillaria was more than a half as long as the body in the male, but was much shorter in the female. Based on these morphological features, the capillarid nematode was identified as Capillaria obsignata. The male adult worms of Heterakis was identifiable by 2 dissimilar spicules, a unique morphological feature where the right spicule was considerably longer than the left, which is also a characteristic feature of Heterakis gallinarum. This is the first report of concurrent infections with C. obsignata and H. gallinarium in rock partridges.

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First Report of Feline Intestinal Trichomoniasis Caused by Tritrichomonas foetus in Korea: Sun Lim, Sang-Ik Park, Kyu-Sung Ahn, Dae-Sung Oh, Jae-Sook Ryu, Sung-Shik Shin; Korean J Parasitol 2010;48(3):247-251.
Published online September 16, 2010; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2010.48.3.247

Abstract
PDF

Feline intestinal tritrichomoniasis by Tritrichomonas foetus was first recognized in USA in 1999 and has so far been reported from UK, Norway, Switzerland, and Australia, but not from the Far East Asian countries. In November 2008, 2 female and male littermate Siamese cats, 6-month old, raised in a household in Korea were referred from a local veterinary clinic with a history of chronic persistent diarrhea. A direct smear examination of fecal specimens revealed numerous trichomonad trophozoites which were isolated by the fecal culture in InPouch™ TF-Feline medium. A PCR testing of the isolate based on the amplification of a conserved portion of the T. foetus internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S rRNA gene, and the molecular sequencing of the PCR amplicons confirmed infection with T. foetus. This is the first clinical case of feline intestinal trichomoniasis caused by T. foetus in Korea.

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