Ovine toxoplasmosis in Suriname and its possible impact on human infection

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a serological survey on toxoplasmosis of sheep in the district of Commewijne, Suriname. A modified agglutination test showed the presence of specifie IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in 67 % of the 106 samples examined. The seroprevalence was not affected by the origin of the samples, the sex and the breed of the sheep and neither by the presence or absence of cats on the premises. It appears from earlier work that an important proportion of the human population in Suriname is seronegative and thus susceptible to this disease. The results of this survey on sheep are discussed with regard to the zoonotic properties of the disease.

Keywords

• Toxoplasma gondii
• Ovine toxoplasmosis
• Sheep
• Zoonosis
• Suriname