Seroprevalence of <it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>infection among horses in Tunisia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study was conducted to investigate the serological survey of <it>Toxoplasma </it>antibodies in local.horses from three major regions: a neighbourhood of a city in the North (Sidi Thabet), a neighbourhood of a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boughattas Sonia, Bergaoui Ramzi, Essid Rym, Aoun Karim, Bouratbine Aida
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-11-01
Series:Parasites & Vectors
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/4/1/218
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study was conducted to investigate the serological survey of <it>Toxoplasma </it>antibodies in local.horses from three major regions: a neighbourhood of a city in the North (Sidi Thabet), a neighbourhood of a city on the coast (Monastir) and a neighbourhood of a city in the middle (Battan) of Tunisia (North of Africa).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 158 serum samples were obtained from clinically healthy horses which consisted of 111 (32 female, 79 male) 2-10 years old and 47 (11 female, 36 male) older than 10 years. All of the horses were tested for antibodies to <it>T. gondii </it>using the Modified Agglutination Test (MAT).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>According to MAT results, antibodies to <it>T. gondii </it>were found in 28 (17.7%) of 158 sera with the titers of 1:20 in 20 horses, 1:40 in 1 horse, 1:80 in 2 horses, 1:160 in 2 horses, 1:320 in 1 horse and ≥1:640 in 2 horses. Anti-<it>T. gondii </it>antibodies were found in 18 (16.2%) of 111 horses (2-10 years old) and 10 (21.2%) of 47 horses (older than 10 years old). Six (13.9%) out of 43 female had anti-toxoplasma antibodies and 22 (19.1%) from 115 males remained positive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Statistically significant differences in age groups and genders were observed between the seropositive and seronegative horses using the Chi square X(2) test. Other statistical correlation was also reported concerning horse breed.</p>
ISSN:1756-3305