Seroprevalence and risk factors of two abortive diseases, toxoplasmosis and neosporosis, in small ruminants of the Mongo County, southern Gabon

Abstract

In order to estimate the seroprevalence and to assess risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in the province of Nyanga, in southern Gabon, a cross-sectional study was conducted in sheep and goats in the county of Mongo. Serological screening was performed using an indirect multi-species enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a commercial direct agglutination test to test serum samples for the presence of anti-N. caninum and anti-T. gondii Immunoglobulines (Ig) G antibodies, respectively. From a total of 201 small ruminants, including 95 sheep and 106 goats, the overall anti-N. caninum and anti-T. gondii IgG seroprevalences were 31.3% (n=63) and 45.8% (n=95), respectively. Statistical analyses showed that adult small ruminants were 4 times more likely to be infected with T. gondii than young animals (p<0.001; OR=4.27; 95% CI: 2.07-8.81). The locality was significantly associated with T. gondii seropositivity (p=0.001). The Dilemba (p<0.001; OR=0.07), Moulengui-Binza (p=0.023; OR=0.05) and Rina-Nzala localities (p=0.005; OR=0.1) were not identified as risk localities associated with T. gondii infection. The seroprevalence of N. caninum was significantly higher in sheep (42.1%) than goats (21.7%). The species was not associated with N. caninum infection (p=0.005; OR=0.27; 95% CI: 0.11-0.68). In Bibora, small ruminants were almost 4 times more likely to get Neospora infection than the animals in the other localities (p=0.04; OR=3.98; 95% CI: 1.06-14.93). The serological prevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii could suggest a considerable impact on the reproductive process from these pathogens in sheep and goats within the Mongo County and a high exposure of humans to T. gondii.

Serological and biochemical study for Neospora caninum in goats/Mosul/Iraq

“…Due to the difficulty of this method and its need for a long time, other techniques represented by serological techniques have been relied upon, such as the indirect immunosorbent technology and the rapid technique, each of which depends on the presence of IgG antibodies in the sera of infected animals. (Maganga et al, 2016) The results of the current study showed that the infection rate was 3.92% and 5.88% in both the rapid test and the indirect immunosorbent test, respectively, and thus the results of the study are close to the study of the researcher (Sharma et al, 2015) in his study on goats in southern India using the indirect immunosorbent test.…”

“…Neosporosis can infect the reproductive system of animals, especially cows, sheep, goats and deer in particular, causing failure in it and resulting in Fetus adsorption and mummification, as well as abortion, premature birth, or the birth of a tired fetus with abnormalities in the fetus. (Wouda W, 2000) The study of the researcher (Maganga et al, 2016) in the countries of Gabon and Pibora indicated that the possibility of sheep being infected with the disease increases by four times due to the presence of street dogs significantly more in these countries than in the rest of the countries and this is a result of poor handling of waste in rural communities and poor sterilization resulting in garbage dumps, which be a good food source for these dogs (Maganga et al, 2016). In diagnosing the disease, researchers relied on many techniques, including immunosorbent test and indirect immunofluorescence technique from samples of blood serum, blood plasma and milk (Shaapan., 2016).…”

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum infections and associated factors in sheep from Costa Rica

“…Several studies worldwide have mentioned that areas with high number of oocysts contamination, communal water supplies, pasturing systems, herd size and animal feeding habits were potential risk factors linked to exposure and infection with T. gondii and N. caninum in sheep (Klun et al, 2006; Tzanidakis et al, 2012; Hamilton et al, 2014; Gazzonis et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2015; Maganga et al, 2016). In Costa Rica, factors related to neosporosis in dairy cattle included age, breed, parity of the dam and the lack of purposive sampling to diagnose abortive infectious disease (Romero et al, 2002).…”