Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii Infection among Domestic Ruminants in East Hararghe Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2011 to September 2013 to assess the seroprevalence and identify risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in domestic ruminants of East Hararghe zone of Oromia region, Ethiopia. Sera of 1360 domestic ruminants were analyzed for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies using the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). Additionally, the owners were also interviewed using a structured questionnaire to identify the potential risk factors of T. gondii infection. Overall, the prevalence of T. gondii infection in domestic ruminants was 22.2% (302/1360). The seroprevalence in sheep, goats, cattle, and camels was 33.7%, 27.6%, 10.7%, and 14.4%, respectively. District, species, sex, age, and water source were identified as risk factors for T. gondii infection. Increased seropositivity was observed in females (OR = 2.63) and also with the use of pond (OR = 4.25) and pipe (OR = 9.57) water sources in sheep; age >1 year old (OR = 3.45) and with drinking from pond (OR = 6.03) and pipe (OR = 11.61) water sources in goats; with the use of pond (OR = 5.60) and pipe (OR = 10.68) water sources in cattle; and in >4-year-old camels (OR = 2.49). In conclusion, T. gondii infection is common and widespread among the domestic ruminants of the study area, indicating the potential transmission to humans from these animals when they are used as a source of food. Hence, it is crucial to raise awareness of the people about T. gondii infection and conduct further study to explore the impact of the disease on food animal production.

Coxiella burnetii associated with BVDV (Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus), BoHV (Bovine Herpesvirus), Leptospira spp., Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Trypanosoma vivax in reproductive disorders in cattle

“…Toxoplasmosis in animal production is serious because it poses potential risks to public health, as a result of the consumption of non-pasteurized milk and raw or underdone beef, associated with economic losses caused by abortion in small ruminants (TENTER et al, 2000;WYROSDICK & SCHAEFER, 2015). Herein, a seroprevalence of 19.2% (20/102) was found to T. gondii, which is lower than that others reported in previous studies (29.1-32.9%) in Brazil (TILAHUN et al, 2018). This fact corroborates results of previous studies that indicate low pathogenicity of T. gondii in cattle, with little or no influence on the occurrence of abortion in herds (CERQUEIRA-CÉZAR et al, 2017).…”

Seasonal and Age Distribution of Toxoplasma gondii in Milk of Naturally Infected Animal Species and Dairy Samples

“…T. gondii has also been recognized in the milk of numerous hosts, such as goat [22][23][24][25][26][27], sheep [28][29][30], donkey [23,31], cattle [32,33], camel [21,[34][35][36], buffalo [11], cat [37], dog [38], rat [39] and even human breast feed [40,41]. In keeping with this, only consumption of contaminated goat milk was associated with occurrence of human acute toxoplasmosis [42][43][44].Nevertheless, some sero-epidemiological surveys specified significantly association with ingestion of raw milk of other livestock and T. gondii infection [45][46][47][48][49]. Association amid raw milk ingestion and T. gondii transmission to human has been conveyed from Iran [11], USA [7], Turkey [50]Germany [51] and Mexico [45].…”

Estudios serológicos, biológicos y moleculares de Toxoplasma gondii y su relación con la transmisión transplacentaria en infecciones naturales en cabras

“…Estas variaciones podrían relacionarse con la prueba de diagnóstico utilizada en los mismos, ya que en algunos se utilizó la aglutinación (MAT) con bajos títulos de corte (Díaz et al, 2016;Djokic et al, 2014, Mancianti et al, 2013 Barakat et al, 2009;Bisson et al, 2000;Díaz et al, 2016;Djokic et al, 2014;García-Bocanegra et al, 2013;Gazzonis et al, 2015;Mancianti et al, 2013;Stormoen et al, 2012;Tilahun et al, 2018). La seropositividad intra-hato en nuestro país fue de 3,4 al 100%, sin embargo estos resultados podrían estar condicionados al número de muestras obtenidos, dado que en algunos hatos se muestrearon de 2 a 5 animales dificultando la obtención de seropositivos si la prevalencia es cercana al 20 % (Thursfield, 2007).…”

“…En la mayoría de los estudios que comparan la presencia de anticuerpos para T. gondii entre distintas especies animales, se observó que los pequeños rumiantes presentan mayores seroprevalencias que los bovinos (Chikweto et al, 2011;Gondim et al, 1999;Meireles et al, 2003;Rahman et al, 2014;Sharif et al, 2007;Tilahun et al, 2018).…”

“…Se ha observado que existen diferencias en estudios de un mismo país dependiendo del número de animales analizados y de la región geográfica estudiada (Díaz et al, 2016;García-Bocanegra et al, 2013;Gebremedhin et al, 2013;Li et al, 2016;Zewdu et al, 2013;Zhou et al, 2018) Muchos trabajos analizaron los factores de riesgo asociados con la infección por T. gondii en cabras. La edad de los animales es el factor más estudiado, demostrándose en la mayoría de los estudios que el número de animales seropositivos aumenta con la edad de los mismos (Alvarado-Esquivel et al, 2011;Anderlini et al, 2011;Iovu et al, 2012;Jittapalapong et al, 2005;Kamani et al, 2010;Opel et al, 1991;Ramzan et al, 2009;Teshale et al, 2007;Tilahun et al, 2018). Otros factores estudiados han sido el sexo de los animales, la raza, el sistema de crianza, manejo y prácticas sanitarias de las cabras (Bisson et al, 2000;Gazzonis et al 2015;Gebremedhin et al, 2013;Jittapalapong et al, 2005;Tzanidakis et al, 2012).…”