Abstract

Background:
Because Toxocara spp. is considered one of the parasites that cause common diseases in cats, studies in Al-Diwaniyah Provicne, Iraq, are limited.

Aim:
The goal of this study was to determine if there were any Toxocara parasites in domestic and stray cat and molecular identification of Toxocara investigate the impact of certain epidemiological variables on the infection rate, including sex, age, and months.

Methods:
A total of 100 fecal samples were collected from cats from October 2024 to February 2025. Samples of both sexes, both kittens and adults.

Results:
According to the microscopic analysis findings, 25 (25%) of the cats had Toxocara spp. infections. The target was internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene. The conventional PCR assay was positive for 32% (32/100) of the samples. According to cat lifestyle, 42% of stray cats was infected, while 22% of domestic cats was infected, with a significant difference. Concerning age, kittens had a higher infection rate (45.8%) of Toxocara cati than adults (19.2%), with a highly significant difference. In comparison between both sex groups, males had a higher infection rate (45.6%) than females (20.3%), which was highly significant. Among the 5 months of the study, the infection rates were higher in February (60%), but decreased in October (10%), with a highly significant decrease. The sequencing results of DNA from feces of cats were verified by reference from the ITS2 (size = 300 bp) of Toxocara spp. Results of the phylogenetic tree were identified, and the strains in Iraq are identical to those in other countries. Toxocara cati in cats that is closely related to strains from Iran, France, Japan, and China was discovered.

Conclusion:
There is a moderate prevalence of T. cati eggs in cats in Al-Diwaniyah. Kittens had a higher infection rate than adult cats, and male cats were more likely to be infected than female cats. Moreover, suggests that there are generally more stray cats than domestic cats. This led to increased infection rates in February. For Toxocara infection detection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most efficient method due to its high sensitivity.

Key words: Domestic and stray cats; Iraq; Microscopic examination; PCR assay; Toxocara cati.