Prevalence of Agglutinating Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis), Opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and Raccoons (Procyon lotoi)

The prevalence of agglutinating antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii was examined in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and raccoons (Procyon lotor) from 8 cities in Connecticut. Ten (42%) of the 24 striped skunks, 2 of 7 (29%) opos- sums, and 12 of 12 (100%) raccoons were positive at dilutions of 1:50 or greater. These results suggest that T. gondii is prevalent in the en- vironment, or prey items, or both, of these omnivores in Connecticut. Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis, and all warm-blooded vertebrates are potentially susceptible to infection with this parasite. Oocysts excreted by domestic cats and other felines, as well as tissue cysts in prey, are sources of Toxoplasma gondii for domestic and wild animals. We are interested in the transmission of T. gondii in wild animals that are in contact with humans in urban areas (Hancock et al., 2005). The prev- alence of antibodies to T. gondii in omnivores collected in urban areas should reflect the presence of oocysts in the environment and tissue cysts in food items of these animals. Little is known about the prevalence of T. gondii in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) or opossums (Didelphis virginiana). Toxoplasma gondii genotype III was isolated from 3 of 6 asymptomatic striped skunks from Mississippi (Dubey, Parnell et al., 2004). Two of the 3 isolated from these skunks were mouse pathogens even though they Table I. Prevalence of agglutinating antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in striped skunks from 6 cities in Connecticut.