Comparison of a Commercial ELISA with the Modified Agglutination Test for Detection of Toxoplasma gondii Antibodies in Sera of Naturally Infected Dogs and Cats

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii can infect all warm-blooded animals. Modified agglutination test (MAT) and ELISA are widely used for the detection of T. gondii antibodies. However, there is little information on their acceptability for detecting antibodies in companion animals. METHODS: This study compared ELISA and MAT for their ability to detect T. gondii infection in naturally infected dogs and cats. Blood samples were collected from dogs and cats in different areas of Beijing, China and analyzed by ELISA and MAT. The χ(2) test and κ analysis were used to evaluate their efficiency and agreement. RESULTS: For dogs, the seroprevalence of T. gondii antibodies detected by ELISA was 34.7%, which was significantly higher than that detected by MAT (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between ELISA and MAT for detecting T. gondii antibodies in cats. Good agreements between MAT and ELISA were seen in both dogs and cats; however, inconsistent results were demonstrated by κ analysis and in MAT titer assay. CONCLUSION: Serum-based ELISA may be more satisfactory for screening test of T. gondii infection in dogs, whereas both methods could be acceptable in cats.