Risk factors associated with the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in cattle and buffaloes in the state of Pará, Brazil

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that parasitizes several hosts worldwide, of which cats are definitive hosts. The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk factors associated with the epidemiology of T. gondii in cattle and buffaloes in the state of Pará, Brazil. A total of 2,070 bovine samples (1,749 cattle and 321 buffaloes) were evaluated in 100 rural properties distributed in 51 municipalities from all mesoregions of the state. The evaluated risk factors were animal gender, type of farm, and number of cats in the properties. The serological prevalence of T. gondii was evaluated using the indirect enzyme immunoadsorption assay (iELISA). The samples with a sample/positive (S/P) ratio ? 0.5 were considered positive and analyzed using the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). The samples diluted at 1:64 were considered positive. The chi-square test with a level of significance of 5% and the odds ratio (OR) with a confidence interval of 95% was applied.The data were analyzed using BioEstat software version 5.0.The prevalence of T. gondii in bovines was 35.79% and 45.12% in ELISA and IFAT, respectively. The prevalence was 34.48% and 44.14% in cattle and 42.99% and 50.47% in buffaloes using ELISA and IFA, respectively. The mesoregion with the highest prevalence of infection was Marajó Island, corresponding to 42.86% (129) and 50.5% (152) in ELISA and IFA, respectively. In buffaloes, the prevalence of T. gondiiusing ELISA was higher in males (p < 0.05) in the two age groups. In contrast, the prevalence of T. gondii using IFA was higher in males in the age group 13 to 24 months (p < 0.05). The type of farm did not affect the prevalence of T. gondii in cattle (p > 0.05). However, the presence of cats strongly affected the occurrence of infection in cattle. These results demonstrate the high levels of anti-T. gondii antibodies in cattle and buffaloes in Pará and this may be a public health problem. Furthermore, the presence of cats is a risk factor for infection with T. gondii in these species in Pará.

Toxoplasma gondii in lactating animals: potential risk to milk consuming population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

“…There are limited reports throughout the world on the sero-prevalence of T. gondii infection in buffaloes (Shah et al, 2013). Current study was supported by 27.2% sero-prevalence reported from Brazil (Oliveira et al, 2018), 7.8% reported from Trinidad (Persad et al, 2011), 8.8% from Iran (Anvari et al, 2018). Several risk factors including sex, diagnostic test, age, and climatic alterations probably take part in changing the prevalence in buffaloes throughout the globe (Ahmad and Qayyum, 2014).…”

Toxoplasma gondii in cattle in Brazil: a review

“…However, the worldwide frequency of occurrence of antibodies against T. gondii in cattle reaches up to 92%, depending on the region studied (Hosein et al, 2016). In Brazil, frequencies of up to 89% have been reported from studies conducted between 1978 and 2018 Oliveira et al, 2018;Santin et al, 2017).…”