Seroprevalence and Spatial Distribution of Toxoplasmosis in Sheep and Goats in North-Eastern Region of Pakistan

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a protozoan disease that is caused by Toxoplasma gondii in livestock and humans. Due to its medical and veterinary importance, it is essential to study the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection among humans and animals in various parts of the world. The major objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and spatial distribution of toxoplasmosis in small ruminants (sheep and goats) of north-eastern region, Pakistan. A total of 1,000 animals comprising of sheep (n=470) and goats (n=530) were examined for T. gondii infection by using ELISA. An epidemiological data was collected in the form of questionnaire. A surface has been generated by using method of interpolation in Arc GIS with the help of IDW (inverse distance weight). The results showed higher seroprevalence of T. gondii in goats (42.8%) as compared to sheep (26.2%). The seroprevalence was higher in females as compared to males in all examined ruminants. Similarly, there is a wide variation in the seroprevalence of T. gondii in different breeds of sheep and goats showing higher seroprevalence in Teddy (52.8%) and Damani breed (34.5%) of goat and sheep’s, respectively. The geographical and spatial distribution of T. gondii shows that it is widely distributed in different parts of the north-eastern region of Pakistan. Our results suggest widespread environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts. It suggests us that small ruminants could be a potentially important source of T. gondii infection if their infected meat is consumed undercooked.

Cross-Sectional Survey on Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Cattle, Sheep, and Goats in Algeria: Seroprevalence and Risk Factors

“…In goats, the T. gondii infection seroprevalence that we observed was close to that recorded (11.2%) in Pakistan [43], Central Ethiopia (11.6%) [28], northern America (12.1%) [52], and Algeria (13.2%) [19], but was higher than that observed in Morocco (8.5%) [41], South Africa (4.3%) [53], and India (3.8%) [54]. Other studies reported higher seroprevalences than ours, such as those reported in Ethiopia (25.9%) [55], Thailand (27.9%) [56], Tunisia (34%) [49], Pakistan (41.8%) [57], Egypt (41.7% and 44.3%) [58,59], Libya (50%) [26], and Southern Ethiopia (55.18%) [60].…”

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii in Ruminant Meats from Wet Markets in Klang Valley and Abattoirs in Selangor, Malaysia

“…The current prevalence of T. gondii antibodies found in meats of goats (42.5%) and sheep (35%) from the two abattoirs is similar to that reported in Iran (goats; 48%, sheep; 32.6%) [24] and Pakistan (goats; 42.8%, sheep; 26.2%) [25]. However, the prevalence estimate in the present work is higher than that reported in goats in Myanmar (11.4%) [26], and lower than the estimates in Egypt (62%) [8] and Italy (63.3%) [27].…”

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and associated hematological alterations in small ruminants of D.G. Khan district of Southern Punjab, Pakistan

“…The overall higher prevalence was recorded in goat when compared to sheep. The similar higher prevalence in g was reported in Pakistan (goat 42.8%, sheep 26.24%) and Egypt (goat 62%, sheep 26%) (Ahmed et al, 2016, Al-Kappany 2018. Contrasting results also reported in Ethiopia (goat 27.6%, sheep 33.7%), Africa (goat 22.9%, 26%) and Tunisia (34.5%, 40.2%) (Tilahunn et al, 2018, Tonouhewa et al, 2017, Lahmar et al, 2015.…”