Veterinary Parasitology, 32 (1989) 261-264 261 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - - Printed in The Netherlands

Short Communicat ion

Congenital Toxoplasmosis in Abyssinian Cats

J.P. DUBEY 1, I. JOHNSTONE 2, V.H. MENRATH 3 and M.J. TOPPER 4

IZoonotic Diseases Laboratory, Livestock and Poultry Sciences Institute, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705 (U.S.A.) 2Companion Animal Practice, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Qld. 4067 (Australia) 3Creek Road Cat Surgery, Mt. Granatt, Qld. 4122 (Australia) 4Veterinary Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC 20306 (U.S.A.)

(Accepted for publication 15 August 1988)

ABSTRACT

Dubey, J.P., Johnstone, I., Menrath, V.H. and Topper, M.J., 1989. Congenital toxoplasmosis in Abyssinian cats. Vet. Parasitol., 32: 261-264.

Two of three litter-mate kittens born to an Abyssinian cat died of acute toxoplasmosis. Toxo- plasma gondii was found in histologic sections of both kittens and this was confirmed by immu- noperoxidase staining.

Congenital toxoplasmosis in cats is relatively uncommon, although Toxo- plasma gondii infection is widely prevalent in adult cats (Dubey, 1986a). Se- vere, fatal neonatal toxoplasmosis was observed in kittens born to an Abys- sinian queen (Dubey and Johnstone, 1982). The kittens died of encephalitis, hepatitis and pneumonia. We report another case of congenital toxoplasmosis, also in an Abyssinian cat.

A 2-year-old Abyssinian queen in Brisbane, Australia, had a litter of three apparently normal kittens on 13 August 1986. Fourteen days after birth, the owner noticed that one kitten was cold to the touch, listless, dyspneic and cyanotic; the kitten died that day. The next day another kitten died without obvious clinical signs. The third kitten and the queen remained healthy.

Both dead kittens were necropsied. Gross lesions were seen in the liver, heart and lungs of both kittens. The livers were enlarged, soft and mottled. The lungs had focal areas of edema and congestion. The myocardium was mottled.

Portions of cerebrum and kidneys (from both kittens), skin, lung, spleen and liver (from one kitten) were fixed in buffered neutral 10% formalin. Par- affin-embedded tissues were sectioned at 5/lm, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE), and examined.

0304-4017/89/$03.50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

×~

.

P~

• N

g 0 .~. g N

t~ g N

0

x~ ar~ o ~D

~D

0 tD

~B

~D

E~

0 C'D

L~D

[',0

263

Fig. 3. Electron micrograph of a T. gondii tissue cyst shown in Fig. 1. Note thin cyst wall (CW), no septa, few tachyzoites (T) and numerous bradyzoites (B). X 10 000.

Microscopically, both kittens had non-suppurative encephalitis consisting of focal gliosis and mononuclear cell infiltrations (Fig. 1 ). T. gondii tissue cysts were present in sections of cerebrum (Figs. 2 and 3). Tissue cysts were stained faintly by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) test using anti-T, gondii serum (Uggla et al., 1987). Although tissue cysts were stained faintly with PAP, ultrastructurally they were typical of young T. gondii tissue cysts. It is known that the PAP staining of tissue cysts of T. gondii is irregular and uneven com- pared with tachyzoites.

Lungs had focal areas of interstitial thickening because of infiltrations by macrophages. A few tachyzoites were seen in alveolar macrophages. Liver and spleen were focally necrotic and kidneys had foci of glomerulonephritis; T. gondii was not seen in these tissues.

The queen was fed a daily diet consisting of uncooked horse meat and beef. Tissue cysts in infected horse meat were probably the source of T. gondii; beef has rarely been found to be infected with T. gondii (Dubey, 1986b).

The queen was bred at her next estrus and gave birth to a litter of four kittens

264

on 12 December 1986; the queen and k i t t ens r ema ined heal thy. Th i s is the second repor t of congeni ta l toxoplasmosis in Abyss in ian cats. T h e previous repor t of congeni ta l toxoplasmosis in the Abyss in ian cat was also f rom Aus- tralia; however , the queens were unre la t ed and were f rom di f ferent areas of Br isbane. W h e t h e r these repor t s are co inc identa l or if the re is breed suscep- t ibi l i ty to feline toxoplasmosis is unknown.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T h e au thors t h a n k Dr. A. Uggla for immunope rox idase s ta in ing and Dr. David Ferguson for reviewing the e lec t ron micrographs .

REFERENCES

Dubey, J.P., 1986a. Toxoplasmosis in cats. Feline Pract., 16: 12-26, 44-45. Dubey, J.P., 1986b. A review of toxoplasmosis in cattle. Vet. Parasitol., 22: 177-202. Dubey, J.P. and Johnstone, I.P., 1982. Fatal neonatal toxoplasmosis in cats. J. Am. Anim. Hosp.

Assoc., 18: 461-467. Uggla, A., Sj~iland, L. and Dubey, J.P., 1987. Immunohistochemical diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in

fetuses and fetal membranes of sheep. Am. J. Vet. Res., 48: 348-351.