Prevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii, Feline Immunosuppressive Virus, and Feline Leukemia Virus in Cats Population of Beirut and Mount Lebanon in Lebanon from 2018 to 2021.

Introduction: Feline toxoplasmosis is caused by the apicomplexan protozoa Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii). Only Felidea are known to be definitive hosts, oocysts disseminators, while humans and warm blooded animals are intermediate hosts in which T.gondii can cause multi-organ damages and may pass the placenta leading to abortions and congenital malformations, which represents a public health issue. It may also cause death in immunocompromised hosts. Among Arab countries, Lebanon represent the highest prevalence in T.gondii antibodies in pregnant women (82.6%), and the prevalence of T.gondii in cats in Beirut, Lebanon is 78% in 1985. Infection with feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) increases their risk of infection with T.gondii which, in turn, can be spread to humans. Infection with FIV and FeLV are worldwide feline infectious diseases. FeLV and FIV differ in disease manifestation. In the Middle East studies are very rare, one study was documented in Beirut, Lebanon on feline leukemia virus in 1986, which showed a prevalence of 3.1% while no previous study related to FIV were conducted in Lebanon. The aim of this study is to provide an updated estimate of the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies among cats in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, to assess the prevalence of FIV and FeLV in the same cats population and to assess its risk factors. Methodology: In order to study the prevalence of T.gondii, FIV and FeLV in cats, a serological test was conducted on serum, collected from 288 cats between 2018 and 2021 from Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and tested by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and a Rapid FIV Ab/ FeLV Ag Test Kit. Results: The overall seroprevalence of the tested samples was 21.18% for T.gondii, 8.33% for FIV, 2.43% for FeLV and 4.86% of T.gondii and FIV co-infection. The statistical analysis for samples has not found significant difference for the Governorates, the gender, the breed, the age, the origin, the lifestyle, the hunting behavior, and the presence of other household pet, the reproductive status, the nutrition type and the presence of concurrent disease. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a decrease in the overall prevalence of T.gondii in cats comparing to the previous study, which point on the importance of searching other causes of human contamination in Lebanon. The presence of FIV and T.gondii co-infection in the studied population highlight that since FIV are immunosuppressive, cats are more prone to opportunistic or secondary infections such as T.gondii infection. Thus the importance to put guidelines and to manage FIV, FeLV and T.gondii infections. To obtain more accurate results about the risk factors further investigations are needed.