Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in native poultry by ELISA method in Shahrekord, Iran

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite capable of infecting most warm-blooded animals, including humans and birds. Considering the feeding habits of native chickens, the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in free-range poultry is regarded as a suitable indicator of Toxoplasma frequency. This research aimed to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii in local poultry of Shahrekord city, Iran using the ELISA method. In this research, 70 pieces of local chicken, including 20 pieces of local chicken, 10 pieces of the local rooster, 20 pieces of turkey, 10 pieces of duck, and 10 pieces of goose, were randomly collected from Shahrekord city. Indirect ELISA tested all the samples to determine the antibody against T. gondii. Chi-square analysis and SPSS version 21 software were used to evaluate the statistical results. Out of a total of 70 samples, 10 samples (14.28%) were positive, eight samples (11.42%) were suspicious, and 52 samples (74.28%) were negative. Of the total of 10 positive samples, two samples (20%), five samples (50%), two samples (20%), and 1 sample (10%) were related to spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. This research found that the highest number of T. gondii is related to turkey and local chicken. Moreover, the lowest consumption was related to goose, duck, and rooster. The main factor in the common occurrence of Toxoplasma is the age of local poultry.