{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,31]],"date-time":"2026-10-31T06:33:14Z","timestamp":1793428394711,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Wildlife Disease Association","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The coccidian parasite Toxoplasma gondii is found worldwide infecting warm-blooded vertebrates. Felids are the definitive hosts; other species act as intermediate hosts. Squirrels (Sciuridae) generally have high population densities in cities and forage and cache food on the ground, where they may come into contact with T. gondii oocysts or be preyed upon by cats and other carnivores. This environment might make squirrels important intermediate hosts of T. gondii in cities, and infection rates could indicate environmental levels of oocysts in soil. We investigated whether urban squirrels would be more exposed to T. gondii infection than rural squirrels with samples collected from American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), and least chipmunks (Tamias minimus) in and around Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We tested 230 tissue samples from 46 squirrels for T. gondii DNA by quantitative PCR and 13 serum samples from grey squirrels for T. gondii antibodies by competitive ELISA. We found no evidence of infection in any squirrel, indicating that squirrels are probably not important intermediate hosts of T. gondii in cities and that consumption of oocysts in the soil in general may not be an important contributor to transmission in colder environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7589\/jwd-d-21-00171","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]],"date-time":"2023-04-25T00:43:08Z","timestamp":1682383388000},"page":"149-154","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Survey of Toxoplasma gondii in Urban and Rural Squirrels (Sciuridae) in Manitoba, Canada"],"prefix":"10.7589","volume":"59","author":[{"given":"Riikka P.","family":"Kinnunen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Building, University of Manitoba, 50 Sifton Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chlo\u00e9","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Building, University of Manitoba, 50 Sifton Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adri\u00e1n","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Ortiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Md Niaz","family":"Rahim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Veterinary Diagnostic Services, Manitoba Agriculture, 545 University Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5S6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Colin J.","family":"Garroway","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Building, University of Manitoba, 50 Sifton Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4415","reference":[{"key":"15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M Opsteegh, M Langelaar, H Sprong, et al.  \"Int J Food Microbiol.\"  139, \"Direct detection and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples using magnetic capture and PCR.\" 193 (2010)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijfoodmicro.2010.02.027"},{"key":"8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"AT Gilbert, AR Fooks, DTS Hayman, et al.  \"Ecohealth.\"  10, \"Deciphering serology to understand the ecology of infectious diseases in wildlife.\" 298 (2013)","DOI":"10.1007\/s10393-013-0856-0"},{"key":"10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J Hirota, H Nishi, H Matsuda, et al.  \"J Vet Med Sci.\"  72, \"Cross-reactivity of Japanese 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Smith,  \"Can J Vet Res.\"  55, \"Seroprevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG in Canadian swine.\" 380 (1991)"},{"key":"24","unstructured":"OA Soave  and EH Lennette  \"J Lab Clin Med.\"  53, \"Naturally acquired toxoplasmosis in the gray squirrel, Sciurus griseus, and its bearing on the laboratory diagnosis of rabies.\" 163 (1959)"},{"key":"25","unstructured":"\"Winnipeg, CY, Manitoba. census profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 98-316-X2016001.\"  (2016)"},{"key":"26","unstructured":"IR Tizard, J Harmeson, CH Lai,  \"Can J Comp Med Rev Can Med Comp.\"  42, \"The prevalence of serum antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in Ontario mammals.\" 177 (1978)"}],"container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,31]],"date-time":"2026-10-31T05:59:32Z","timestamp":1793426372000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-wildlife-diseases\/volume-59\/issue-1\/JWD-D-21-00171\/Survey-of-Toxoplasma-gondii-in-Urban-and-Rural-Squirrels-Sciuridae\/10.7589\/JWD-D-21-00171.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7589\/jwd-d-21-00171","relation":{},"ISSN":["0090-3558","1943-3700"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0090-3558","type":"print"},{"value":"1943-3700","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]]}}}