First report of seroprevalence of <em>Toxoplasma gondii </em>infection in sheep in Pomerania, northern Poland
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2015, Vol 22, Issue 4
Abstract
[b][/b][b][/b][b]Introduction and objective.[/b] [i]Toxoplasmosis[/i] is parasitic disease which has economic relevance for both veterinary and human medicine. In sheep, toxoplasmosis is a major cause of abortion and can thus cause reproductive problems. The current study aimed to determine the occurrence of anti-[i]Toxoplasma gondii [/i]IgG antibodies in sheep from 13 districts of northern Poland and thereby obtain actual data about [i]T. gondii[/i] seroprevalence in this population of animals. [b]Materials and methods.[/b][b][/b] [/b]Blood samples from 1,646 animals from 99 herds were collected, and an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on native [i]Toxoplasma[/i] lysate antigen (TLA) was used for serological testing. The diagnostic sensitivity of diagnostic test used in this study was 98.6%, and specificity 94.9% for the group of 113 sheep sera (74 seropositive and 39 seronegative) previously characterized by using an commercial agglutination test. [b]Results.[/b] Antibodies against [i]T. gondii[/i] were found in 921 (55.9%) of all tested animals. The percentage of infected sheep was the highest (67.6%) for older animals (&amp;gt;6 years), whereas for younger ones it was significantly lower (50.1% – 57.2% for 1–5-year-old animals, respectively). Furthermore, a higher percentage of seropositive animals was noted among males (63%) than females (55.5%). The results also showed that the size of the herd is not a factor which may affect the seroprevalence of [i]T. gondii[/i] infection in the examined population of sheep. [b]Conclusion. [/b]The results of this study indicate that [i]T. gondii[/i] infection in sheep from region of northern Poland is relatively high, and consumption of ovine meat and milk can be regarded as a significant source of infection for humans.
Authors and Affiliations
Lucyna Holec-Gąsior, Bartosz Dominiak-Górski, Józef Kur
Keywords
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