Occurrence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in rheas (Rhea americana) and ostriches (Struthio camelus) from farms of different Brazilian regions

Abstract

Occurrence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in rheas (Rhea americana) and ostriches (Struthio camelus) from farms of different Brazilian regions AbstractThis study aimed to verify the occurrence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in rheas (Rhea americana) and ostriches (Struthio camelus) commercially breeding in Brazil. Blood samples from 20 rheas and 46 ostriches (young and adults) were serologically tested using a technique known as modified agglutination test (MAT) at an initial titration of 1:16 for ostriches and 1:25 for rheas. Antibodies against T. gondii were found in 50% (10/20) of the rheas, with titers ranging from 1:25 to 1:6,400. The incidence of antibodies against T. gondii in ostriches was 17.4% (8/46) with titers ranging from 1:16 to 1:256. Birds showing titers higher than 1:200 for T. gondii were mainly the young ones. Therefore, rheas and ostriches may be parasitized by T. gondii, showing high levels of antibodies against this parasite.

Risk factors and molecular typing of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from ostriches (Struthio camelus) from a Brazilian slaughterhouse

“…The same has been observed by Almeida et al (2013), whereas Dubey et al (2000) observed a range from 25 to 500, and 16 to 16,384 by Contente et al, (2009). All animals were determined as having a chronic infection.…”

“…In the present study, ostriches reared for meat production presented a lower serological prevalence, 11.05%, than Hove and Mukaratirwa (2005) found in slaughtered ostriches from Zimbabwe (48%; 24/50), or Contente et al, (2009) and Almeida et al (2013) found in ostriches reared for many purposes from Brazil (14.36%;18/195,and 17.39%;8/46,respectively), but higher than El-Madawy and Metawea (2013) found in Egyptian ostriches reared for meat production, or Dubey et al (2000) found in captive-ranched ostriches from Canada (2.9%; 28/973), and Martínez-Díaz et al (2002) found in slaughtered ostriches from Spain (0.9%; 1/115). Some of the mentioned studies focused on meat production, others on the whole population.…”

“…T. gondii has a felid definitive host and all other warm blooded animals, including ostriches (Struthio camelus), as intermediate hosts (Hill and Dubey, 2013). It causes abortion in several species of economic interest, and is considered an important problem to public health as foodborne and Mukaratirwa, 2005;Contente et al, 2009;Almeida et al, 2013;El-Madawy and Metawea, 2013).…”

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in farm-reared ostriches (Struthio camelus) in China

“…A low prevalence of T. gondii antibodies in ostriches has been reported in other countries. The seroprevalence of T. gondii was about 74% to 80% among backyard chickens in Brazil [ 25 , 26 ], but lower among ostriches (about 11% to 17%) [ 2 , 9 , 10 ] (Table 2 ). A summary of the prevalence of T. gondii in ostriches in various countries is shown in Table 2 .…”

Mannheimiose atípica em emas (Rhea americana) cativas

“…As this activity has grown, there has been a trend towards increasing health problems in these birds, including bird mortality and treatment expenses (FILHO;LUCIO, 2006). An overview of the diseases that affect rheas in Brazil described the presence of T. gondii antibodies (ALMEIDA et al, 2013), whereas a report referred pulmonary aspergillosis outbreak in commercial farms (COPETTI et al, 2004). The commercial raising of great rheas is expanding in Brazil and many diseases previously restricted to other avian species are emerging on rhea farms.…”