Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Sheep, Cattle and Horses in Urmia North-West of Iran

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan parasite found worldwide and responsi­ble for major economic losses in most classes of livestock. This study was aimed to deter­mine the prevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep, cattle and horses in Urmia, north-west of Iran, using MAT. Methods: Blood samples of 276 livestock and 26 horses were collected from July 2009 till April 2010. The data were analyzed by the Chi-square, Fisher's Exact and Cochran's and Mantel-Haen­s­zel Tests. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Thirty-three (21.1%) sheep, 2 (1.6%) cattle and 3 (11.5%) horses were seropositive to T. gondii. Analysis showed that sheep were 15 times more likely to be seropositive comparing to cattle also 2 times more likely to be seropositive than horses. Conclusion: This study showed seroprevalence of equine T. gondii infection with a considerable rate in sheep in Urmia, northwest of Iran. More comprehensive studies on livestock toxoplasmo­sis are required for further analysis of the parasite reservoir for human infection.

Keywords

• MAT
• Prevalence
• Toxoplasma gondii
• Iran