1Department
of Zoology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan;
2Department of Microbiology, Government College
University, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 3Department of
Statistics, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan;
4Veterianry Research Institute Lahore, Pakistan;
5Department
of Parasitology, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal
Sciences, Bahawalpur
*Corresponding author:
azharrafique96@gmail.com
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii, a
protozoan parasitecan infect all
warm-blooded animals such as mammals and birds, worldwide. Infection in domestic
goats is caused by consumption of oocytes contaminated food and water. Infection
due to T. gondii causes reproductive
losses in goats and may play a key role in transmission of
T. gondii infection to humans due to consumption of milk and meat of
infected animals. The present study was aimed at evaluating the sero-prevalence
of toxoplasmosis and its associated risk factors in goats of peri urban areas of
Faisalabad Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 240 sera samples were collected and
tested by Latex Agglutination Test. The results of the study were subjected to
Chi square test, relative risk and odds ratio to assess the association of risk
factors. According to the results age, breed and purpose of breeding the goats
had no association with the prevalence of disease. However, gender, pregnancy,
management practices and pen flooring exhibited the association with
toxoplasmosis (P<0.05). The other strongly associated risk factors were
domestic cats (P=0.001, OR=13.06), use of
stagnant water (P=0.001, OR=10.68), number of cats (P=0.001, OR=5.81) and access
of cats to food storage (P=0.001, OR=8.96). This study concludes that prevalence
of Toxoplasma gondii infection is
still high in goats of Faisalabad Punjab, Pakistan. The highest seroprevalence
of T. gondii was recorded in autumn
(29.5%) and the lowest in spring (10.3%). This infection is transmitted to
humans through contaminated milk and meat posing a serious public health
problem. Awareness about risk factors in farmers can be helpful to reduce this
serious infection.
To Cite This Article: Rafique A, Nasir S, Ashraf A, Nawaz Z, Zahid FM,
Abbas A and Masood S, 2022. Sero-surveillance
and risk factors analysis of caprine toxoplasmosis in Faisalabad Punjab,
Pakistan. Pak Vet J, 42(1): 102-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.020