EXPERIMENTAL TOXOPLASMOSIS IN BOBWHITE QUAIL (COLINUS-VIRGINIANUS)

Twenty-four 3-5-mo-old battery-hatched bobwhite quail were inoculated orally with 10(5) (ME 49 strain, group A, 6 birds), 10(4) (ME 49 strai n, group B, 6 birds), 10(5) (GT-1 strain, group C, 6 birds), and 10(4) (GT-1 strain, group D, 6 birds) Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. One quail in group B died 18 days after inoculation (DAI) due to undetermined et iology. Two quail from group C and 1 quail from group D given GT-1 ooc ysts died of acute toxoplasmosis 6, 7, and 8 DAI, respectively; numero us T. gondii tachyzoites were found in lesions in visceral tissues. Th e surviving quail in group A and B were killed 106 DAI and those in gr oups C and D were killed 60 DAI. Toxoplasma gandii was isolated from p ooled tissues of 4 of 5 quail in group B. Brains, hearts, and skeletal muscles from quail in groups A, C, and D were bioassayed individually in mice; T. gondii was isolated from the brains of all 6, hearts of 3 , and skeletal muscles of 2 of the 6 quail in group A; from the brains of all 4, hearts of 1, and skeletal muscles of 2 of the 4 quail in gr oup C; and from the brains of all 5, hearts of 1, and skeletal muscles of 3 of the 5 quail in group D. Toxoplasma gondii antibodies were fou nd in sera of all 20 quail killed 60 or 106 DAI. Antibody titers detec ted in the modified agglutination test using whole tachyzoites were hi gher than in latex agglutination and indirect hemagglutination tests t hat used soluble antigens. Antibodies were not detected in a 1:4 dilut ion of 19 of 20 quail sera in the Sabin-Feldman dye test.