Seroprevalence of Linguatula serrata infection in goats from Ilam province using an in-house ELISA test

Linguatula serrata is the cause of linguatolosis, a parasitic disease common to humans and animals. Canines and ruminants are important final and intermediate hosts for the parasite respectively. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Linguatula serrata infection in goats of different regions in Ilam province by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA test was designed to detect Linguatula serrata infection in goats using excretory-secretory antigens, serum samples (62 negative and 40 positive) and anti-goat IgG conjugate.  A total of 805 goat serum samples collected from five regions of Ilam province were tested by ELISA.Seroprevalence of parasite infection among goats in the province of Ilam was 28.57 percent, along with 65.8% in Ilam (center), 63.4% in Ivan (north), 19.2% in Dehloran (south), 16.9% in Chardavol (east), and 9.9% in Mehran (west).The seroprevalence varied significantly between different areas of the province (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between the rate of infection in age groups 1- <2, 2- 3>, 3- ≥4 with 27.7%, 29.5%, 28.3%, respectively (P = 0.849), and also in resident (29.1%) and nomadic (26.9%) herds were not observed (P=0.545).The results of this study indicate that the ELISA test can be used as one of the convenient serological methods to detect Linguatula serrata infection in goats. To control and manage the disease, educational and preventive measures are recommended due to the presence of infection in livestock of the region.