Serological survey of toxoplasmosis in slaughtered livestock in Rasht Slaughterhouse using modified agglutination test (MAT)

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 field evaluation of the modified agglutination test (MAT) for determine the rate of Toxoplasma antibody positive in slaughtered livestock.Sera were obtained from 346 farm animals including 48 cows, 85 sheep and 33 goats evaluated by Modified Agglutination Test to detect anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. In this study, Anti-Toxoplasma antibodies were detected in sera of 30 out of 166 (18.1%) animals. The highest rate of infection (24.7%) was found in sheep followed by cow (16.7%) and goat (3%). Most of sheep's (23%) had antibody titer of 1:20. Male consisted 7.8 % and females 22.9% of seropositive animals and was statistically significant (P>0.05). The difference in terms of geographical area was statistically significant (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.