Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite of warm-blooded animals and humans. However, limited information is available about T. gondii infection in wild birds. In this study, 239 wild birds were collected from Hunan province of China, including 38 chestnut bunting, 44 olive-backed pipit, 26 yellow-breasted bunting, and 131 tree sparrows. Genomic DNA of brain tissues were extracted and assayed by B1 gene, and the positive samples were genotyped at 10 genetic markers [SAG1, SAG2 (5'+3' SAG2, alter. SAG2), SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico] using multilocus nested-PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism technology. The results showed that 13 (5.51%) of the 239 wild birds were positive for T. gondii. Among them, three samples have completely genotyped at all loci, and were identified as ToxoDB #10. Our results have indicated that wild birds can carry and potentially disseminate the T. gondii. This is the first report of the molecular prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii in wild birds in Hunan province, China. Further research should be investigated to understand weather T. gondii can be transmitted from wild birds to other animals or humans.
Keywords: China; PCR-RFLP; genotype; wild bird.