Haydee A. Dabritz

TL;DR: Investigation into the processes promoting T. gondii infections in sea otters will provide a better understanding of terrestrial parasite flow and the emergence of disease at the interface between wildlife, domestic animals and humans.

TL;DR: Prevention efforts should focus on educating cat owners about the importance of collecting cat faeces in litter boxes, spaying owned cats to reduce overpopulation, reducing the numbers of feral cats and promoting rigorous hand hygiene after gardening or soil contact.

TL;DR: Type X T. gondii strains with Type X alleles were identified from two mountain lions, a bobcat and a fox residing in coastal watersheds adjacent to sea otter habitat near Monterey Bay and Estero Bay and supports the hypotheses that feline faecal contamination is flowing from land to sea through surface runoff, and that otters can be infected with T. Gondii via consumption of filter-feeding marine invertebrates.

TL;DR: Despite the low prevalence and short duration of T gondii oocyst shedding by cats detected in the present and former surveys, the sheer numbers of oocysts shed by cats during initial infection could lead to substantial environmental contamination.

TL;DR: Feral cats represented a sizeable proportion (22%) of the free roaming cats in this area and could be contributing 30.0 tonnes (29.5 tons) of feces to the environment per year, but feral cats are not the principal source of fecal loading.