<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> infection in white spoonbills (<i>Platalea leucorodia</i>) from Henan Province, China

<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> oocysts in the environment are a threat to humans and animals. This study is aimed to evaluate the prevalence of <i>T. gondii</i> in white spoonbills and isolate viable <i>T. gondii</i> from white spoonbills. In 28.6% (2/7) of white spoonbills, <i>T. gondii</i> antibodies were found in heart juice by the modified agglutination test (cut-off: 1:4). <i>T. gondii</i> DNA was detected in tissues of 42.9% (3/7) white spoonbills. One viable <i>T. gondii</i> strain, named TgSpoonbillCHn1, was isolated from the myocardium of a white spoonbill by bioassay in mice. DNA extracted from TgSpoonbillCHn1 tachyzoites was characterized by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism with ten markers and the virulence genes ROP5 and ROP18. The results revealed that it was ToxoDB#2 (Type III). The ROP18/ROP5 genotype combination predicts that this strain is avirulent for mice, which is supported by the infection experiments in mice. This is the first report of the isolation of viable <i>T. gondii</i> strain from white spoonbil. The prevalence of <i>T. gondii</i> in white spoonbills may be indicative of environmental contamination of oocysts. This report provides direct evidence of white spoonbill as an intermediate host of <i>T. gondii</i>.