Molecular and Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii inTwo Species of Rodents: Ctenodactylus gundi (Rodentia,Ctenodactylidae) and Psammomys obesus (Rodentia,Muridae) From South Tunisia

The molecular and serological prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection was investigated among rodents living in desertic areasin the Tataouine district, in the south of Tunisia. A total number of 43 rodents were captured from four sites classified as aridand Saharan climatic zones. Sera, hearts, spleens and brains were collected from each rodent. Sera were tested for the presence ofanti-T. gondii IgG by the ELISA technique. PCR was used to detect T. gondii DNA from different tissues. Two rodent species wereidentified as Ctenodactylus gundi (Rodentia, Ctenodactylidae) (N = 28; 65%) and Psammomys obesus (Rodentia, Muridae) (N = 15;35%). The overall molecular prevalence of T. gondii was 39% (17/43). Infection prevalences were higher in C. gundi (53.6%; 15/28)compared to P. obesus (13.3%; 2/15). In both species, the brain was the most infected organ (p = 0.02). No significant difference wasrecorded for the two rodent species according to gender and sampling sites (p > 0.05). The overall seroprevalence was up to 34.9%(15/43). It was higher in C. gundi (43%; 12/28) compared to P. obesus (20; 3/15) (p = 0.02). These results highlight a high infectionlevel of T. gondii in desertic rodents. More investigations are required to understand the role of other desertic mammals and toidentify the genotype circulating in the Tunisian Sahara.