Epidemiological Studies on Toxoplasmosis in Small Ruminants and Equine in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt.

Abstract

Prevalence of toxoplasmosis was investigated in small ruminants (292 sheep & 81 goats) and equine (54 horses and 79 donkeys) from Dakahlia governorate, Egypt in the period from October 2013 -October 2014. The annually incidences were estimated by using latex agglutination test (LAT); indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in sheep were (41.7%), (66.1%) and (62.0%) respectively, in goat were (49.4%), (64.2%) and (50.6%) respectively, in horse (50.0%), (72.2%) and (72.2%) respectively and (44.3%), (67.1%) and (68.4%) in donkeys respectively. The results of bioassay in cats revealed that 8 out of 25 slaughtered sheep (32.0%) and 9 out of 25 slaughtered donkeys (36.0%) were positive. Histopathological examination on bioassay positive case detected Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) tissue cysts in 3 (37.5%) and 4 (44.4%) in diaphragm muscles of sheep and donkeys respectively. The sensitivity of both ELISA and IHAT in sheep and donkeys was 100%. Regarding to host risk factors associated with toxoplasmosis, the results revealed that the seroincidence was significantly higher in equine [horses (72.2%) and donkeys (68.4%)] than in small ruminants [sheep (62.0%) and goats (50.6%)] and in relation to the gender the females were higher than in males. There are high associations between the history of abortion and intensive rearing system with incidence of toxoplasmosis in sheep. It could be concluded that the equines and small ruminants play an important role in epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. ELISA test is the more suitable test in diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in small ruminant and equine. There are strong association between serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis with intensive breeding, old ages and female in small ruminant and equine.

Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii in pigs in Haryana, India

“…(2009), where T. gondii seroprevalence was higher in adult animals compared to those younger than 1 year. The present study also corroborated the findings of the previous studies, which evinced that the seroprevalence of T. gondii was higher in older animals (Akande et al., 2016; Al‐mabruk et al., 2013; Boughattass et al., 2011; Figueiredo et al., 2001; Ishaku et al., 2018; Lahmar et al., 2015; Younis et al., 2015). This could be attributed to the fact that with increasing age, the probability of animals being exposed to environments contaminated with feline faeces (having oocysts) also increases.…”

“…gondii was higher in older animals (Akande et al, 2016;Al-mabruk et al, 2013;Boughattass et al, 2011;Figueiredo et al, 2001;Ishaku et al, 2018;Lahmar et al, 2015;Younis et al, 2015). This could be attributed to the fact that with increasing age, the prob- Similarly, a study conducted in Brazil reported high seroprevalence of T. gondii in pigs from large farms as compared to small farms, with seropositivity rates of 75% and 25%, respectively (Djokic et al, 2016).…”

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in Small Ruminants in Luxor, Egypt

“…Our results were relatively higher than those reported in different areas in Egypt 28.1% at Cairo by ELISA(Abd El-Razik et al, 2018;Abbas et al, 2019), and 32.0%(El- Gawady et al, 2018). Our result was lower than another finding in Egypt as in Dakahlia 50.6%(Younis et al, 2015), 59.0% and 54.0% (Al-Kappany et al, 2018) by using ELISA and IFA, respectively and 43.0% documented at Cairo, Giza, Kalubyia using ELISA(El-Fadaly et al, 2017). Moreover 36.3%, 53.6% were recorded from Giza and Sharkia, respectively by using ELISA (Abd El-Razik et al,…”

“…In Al-fayium governorate, the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in sheep (98.4%) was extremely higher than that we identified here and 41.7% in goats, which also was being higher than that we recorded (Ghoneim et al, 2010). In Dakahlia governorate, 62.0% from tested sheep and 50.6% from tested goat were seropositive for T. gondii by using ELISA (Younis et al, 2015). In Cairo, the seroprevalence of T. gondii in sheep was 61.4% using ELISA (Hassanain et al, 2011) and these results were considered higher than that we investigated.…”

“…2018). Such differences in the prevalence of toxoplasmosis may be attributed to breeding condition, immune status, the timing of infection, the genetic composition of the host and the organism (Suzuki, 2002;Masala et al, 2003) and diagnostic techniques, the ELISA test considers the more suitable test in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in ruminants (Younis et al, 2015). Our results revealed that the T. gondii parasite is widely spread due to they tend to wander more freely in the urban area of Egypt than other ruminants and thus have direct contact with domestic cat faeces (Abdel-Rahman et al, 2012).…”