Toxoplasma Infection in Farm Animals: A Seroepidemiological Survey in Fars Province, South of Iran

Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide parasite which infects animals and human. Infections with this zoonotic parasite are acquired mostly by consumption of undercooked or raw meat, which contains tissue cysts. The current study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma infection in farm animals in southern Iran. Sera were obtained from 346 farm animals including 80 cows, 33 dogs, 35 horses, 95 sheep, 90 goats, 9 turkeys and 4 geese and evaluated by Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) to detect anti Toxoplasma antibodies. Anti-Toxoplasma antibodies were detected in sera of 121 out of 346 (34.9%) animals. The highest rate of infection (55%) was found in the cattle, followed by dogs (51.5%), horses (40%), sheep (29.5%), goats 18.8%) and turkeys (11.1%). No antibody was detected in any sera of 4 geese. Most of animals (86%) had antibody titer of 1:20. Males consisted 34.3% and females 40% of seropositive animals but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Correlation between age of animals and Toxoplasma infection was also insignificant (P > 0.05). High seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis observed in this region indicates that farm animals may play a major role in transmitting the infection to human through consumption of undercooked meats.