Prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii in sheep in the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The aims of this survey were to determine the flock-level and animal-level prevalences of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sheep in the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil, and to identify risk factors. Blood samples were collected from 540 sheep in 63 flocks in 14 municipalities in the Sertão mesoregion. To serologically diagnose T. gondii infection, the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used. Flocks with at least one seropositive animal were considered positive. Among the 63 flocks, 28 (44.44%) were positive, and 60 (11.11%) of the 540 animals were seropositive. Variable flock size > 25 animals was identified as a risk factor (odds ratio = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.09 -9.34; P = 0.033). The results from this survey demonstrate that T. gondii is spread among sheep in the State of Paraíba.Keywords: Toxoplasmosis, small ruminants, serology, epidemiology, control. ResumoOs objetivos deste trabalho foram determinar a prevalência de rebanhos positivos e de animais soropositivos para Toxoplasma gondii em ovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Nordeste do Brasil, bem como identificar fatores de risco. Foram colhidas amostras de sangue de 540 ovinos de 63 rebanhos em 14 municípios da mesorregião do Sertão. Para o diagnóstico sorológico da infecção por T. gondii, foi utilizado o teste de imunofluorescência indireta (RIFI). Rebanhos com pelo menos um animal soropositivo foram considerados positivos. Dos 63 rebanhos, 28 (44,44%) foram positivos, e 60 (11,11%) dos 540 animais foram soropositivos. A variável tamanho do rebanho > 25 animais foi identificada como fator de risco (odds ratio = 3,2; IC 95% = 1,09 -9,34; P = 0,033). Os resultados deste trabalho sugerem a disseminação de T. gondii em ovinos no Estado da Paraíba.

Sheep toxoplasmosis diagnose by ELISA and IFAT

“…The literature suggests the age of animal can influence on the incidence of toxoplasmosis and it can be explained due to the wide time of exposition of the animal with the parasite (MODOLO et al, 2008;LUCIANO et al, 2011;GUIMARÃES et al, 2013). In this work, despite the prevalence of anti-T. gondii were mathematically higher for animals from 4-5 and > 6 years old, there were no statistic difference (P <0.001) by Fisher's exact test (CORREIA et al, 2015).…”

Seroprevalence and isolation of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep intended for human consumption in Paraíba, northeastern Brazil

“…The serological test used to search for anti-T. gondii antibodies was IFAT, performed as described by Camargo (1974). The test was carried out using a RH strain of T. gondii tachyzoites fixed on a slide, with a cutoff point of 1:64 (Correia et al 2015). The slides were read under a fluorescence microscope with a 40 × objective lens, and samples in which the tachyzoites showed total peripheral fluorescence were considered to be positive.…”

Epidemiological Investigation of Toxoplasma gondii Infections in Commercial Sheep Flock in an Endemic Area for Ocular Toxoplasmosis in Southern Brazil

“…Serological surveys until 2012 were summarized by Dubey et al [11]. Since then, few additional reports were published 1 3 [2,6,7,14,[20][21][22][23]. In most of these surveys, an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) or an ELISA were used.…”