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SHORT COMMUNICATION |
1 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Weyandt Hall, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705, USA;
2 United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, Maryland 207052350, USA;
3 Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 171109797, USA
4 Corresponding author (email: Eric.Mucker{at}det.amedd.army.mil)
ABSTRACT:
From 2000 to 2002 bobcat blood samples were collected, in association with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, during the recently reactivated bobcat hunting and trapping season. Sex, age, and county/township data were recorded for each animal. Blood was tested for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii using the modified agglutination test. In the 2-yr study, 131 bobcat samples were collected in 14 Pennsylvania counties and 109 (83%) of these had antibodies to T. gondii (titer
25). A two-way Chi-Square test (95% confidence interval) yielded no significance differences in antibody prevalence between males (83%) and females (88%) or adults (83%) and juveniles (77%). All 14 counties had at least one bobcat with antibodies to T. gondii.
Key words: Blood collection strips, bobcat, Lynx rufus, modified agglutination test, seroprevalence, Toxoplasma gondii.
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