Serosurvey of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sport horses from Paraiba state, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Although the infection by Toxoplasma gondii in horses is usually asymptomatic, it may be characterized by the presence of tissue cysts and maintenance of detectable antibody titers. The aim of this study was to detect anti-T.gondii antibodies and to determine risk factors associated in sport horses from Paraíba State, Northeastern Brazil. A total of 138 apparently healthy sport horses of different age and gender were sampled. Anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies were detected in 16/138 (11.6%; 95% CI: 6.77-18.14%) horses by indirect immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA). A significant association was found between the water source and seropositivity to T. gondii (p<0.05). The present study highlights the importance of providing good quality water to the animals.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Horses

“…In this work, T. gondii seroprevalence was 16.2% in horses, a value which is lower than previous reported rate (25%) in Egypt by Haridy, et al [ 38 ], but is close to value of (17.92%) observed in northern Chinese horses [ 39 ]. However, the seroprevalence rates in the present study were lower than those reported by Almeida et al [ 40 ] (23.64% in Brazil); Saqib et al [ 41 ] (23.50% in Pakistan); Bártová et al [ 42 ] (24.17% in Nigeria); Razmi et al [ 43 ] (20.30% in Iran); and Alanazi and Alyousif [ 44 ] (31.58% in Saudi Arabia). By contrast, the seroprevalence rates of this work were higher than those reported by Aharonson-Raz et al [ 45 ] (3.25% in Israel); García-Bocanegra et al [ 23 ] (10.79% in Spain); Lopes et al [ 46 ] (13.29% in Portugal); Boughattas et al [ 47 ] (17.72% in Tunisia); and Karatepe et al [ 48 ] (7.20% in Turkey).…”

“…The following factors may be responsible for the variations in seroprevalence: time of sampling, sample size, differences in the sensitivity of the detection methods, the cut off titer utilised in the interpretation of findings, animal susceptibility, the number and age of examined horses, location, feeding practices, sanitation, and farming management [ 23 , 39 , 40 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Additionally, climate-linked influences that include regional distribution, density of population, and the presence or absence of cats or of animals that serve as reservoir hosts or transport hosts, are crucial to the emergence, survival, dispersion, and transmission of T. gondii [ 3 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ].…”

Anti-Toxoplasma gondii and Anti-Neospora caninum Antibodies in Urban Traction Equids in Northeast Brazil: Seroprevalence and Risk Factors

“…After taking assigned consent from the owner of the animal, external jugular venipuncture was used to collect 5 mL of blood from each animal. The samples were individually identified, packaged and sent to the Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases (LIID) at the Veterinary Hospital at the Instituto Federal da Paraíba (IFPB), Sousa campus, where they were centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 10 min, and then the sera were stored in 2 mL microtubes and frozen at −20 °C [6].…”

“…In Brazil, equids are highly exposed to infections by T. gondii and N. caninum, being important in the epidemiology of these parasites' infections [5]. Epidemiological studies to detect anti-T. gondii antibodies in rural horses showed frequencies ranging from 10.3% to 11.6% in the states of Pará and Paraíba, respectively [6,7]. For infections by N. caninum, the positivity frequencies in rural horses ranged from 5.6% to 23.9% in the States of Pará and Minas Gerais, respectively [7,8].…”