Background: Wild Amur tigers are a sparsely populated species, and the conservation of this species is of great\nconcern worldwide, but as an important health risk factor, parasite infection in them is not fully understanding.\nResults: In this study, sixty-two faecal samples were collected to investigate the frequency and infection intensity\nof Toxocara cati and Toxascaris leonina in wild Amur tigers. The T. cati and T. leonina eggs were preliminary\nidentified by microscopy, and confirmed by molecular techniques. Infection intensity was determined by the\nmodified McMaster technique. Phylogenetic trees demonstrated that T. cati of wild Amur tiger had a closer\nrelationship with which of other wild felines than that of domestic cats. T. leonina of Amur tiger and other felines\nclustered into one clade, showing a closer relationship than canines. The average frequency of T. cati was 77.42%\n(48/62), and the frequency in 2016 (100%) were higher than those in 2013 (P = 0.051, < 0.1; 66.6%) and 2014 (P =\n0.079, < 0.1; 72.2%). The infection intensity of T. cati ranged from 316.6 n/g to 1084.1 n/g. For T. leonina, only three\nsamples presented eggs when the saturated sodium chloride floating method was performed, indicating that the\nfrequency is 4.83% (3/62). Unfortunately, the egg number in faecal smears is lower than the detective limitation, so\nthe infection intensity of T. leonina is missed.\nConclusions: This study demonstrated that ascarids are broadly prevalent, and T. cati is a dominant parasite species\nin the wild Amur tiger population.
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