Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite prevalent in humans and other animals worldwide having medical and veterinary importance on account of reproductive failure causing significant socioeconomic losses. The aims of this study were to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in goats, determined the possible risk factors associated, and evaluate the performances of the latex agglutination test (LAT) to anti-T. gondii antibodies screening using the indirect Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as a reference test (iELISA). A total of 184 serum samples from goats reared on 25 farms in Mila district from North-Eastern Algeria were collected and tested for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies using two commercial serological tests (ELISA and LAT). A seroprevalence rate of 71.73 % and 63.58 % was obtained by both ELISA and LAT tests, respectively. The analysis of some factors thought to be related to the onset of this infection such as age, sex, management system, locality and presence of cats showed no significant relationship (P > 0.05); these factors did not seem to affect the frequency of the infection. The seropositivity level of T. gondii was significantly higher in aborted goats (P = 0.007), which suggested that they may play a significant role in pregnancy failure. In the concordance evaluation between the two serological tests (ELISA and LAT), the Cohen’s Kappa value was calculated and the results showed a K of 0.519 (p = 0.000) belonging to the range of 0.41—0.60 indicating just average agreement. The results of the Mc Nemar test showed that both tests gave significantly different results and seropositivity values (P < 0.05). The high prevalence observed in this study indicated a widespread exposure to T. gondii from goats and the potential risk of T. gondii infection for humans in North-Eastern Algeria. These results elucidate the challenges of applying serology to estimate goat exposure to T. gondii. The choice between the two serological tests will depend on their performances, as well as the availability of the equipment, laboratory conditions and the number of samples to be tested.

Anaplasmosis is an infectious disease affecting goats and other ruminants. Our goal was to estimate the prevalence of Anaplasma spp. infections, and to identify different tick species in goa ts along with their associated risk factors. The epidemiology of Anaplasma spp. (A. ovis/A. marginale) was investigated from April to September 2016 in dairy goats from three different agro-ecological areas in the northeast region of Algeria (Guelma and El-Taref). We tested 182 goat sera using a MSP5 competitive ELISA (cELISA) test for IgG antibody screening, and by microscopic examination using the Giemsa (May-Greunwald-Giemsa) stain of 128 blood smears to detect intraerythrocytic inclusions bodies. The results demonstrated a total infection rate of 78.02 % and 42.18 % using cELISA and MGG, respectively. Only two species of ticks collected were identified, i. e. Rhipicephalus sanguineus (85.39 %) and Rhipicephalus bursa (14.60 %). Our study revealed that factors, such as the season, the type of farming, the hygienic status and the climatic conditions of the studied areas were found to be significantly associated with the tick infestation of goats (P < 0.05). The Anaplasma spp. infection prevalence was found to be highly dependent on the climatic conditions, the season (P < 0.05) and most closely related to the type of breeding and herd management (P = 0.000).The evaluation of the Giemsa technique showed specificity and sensitivity of 60.71 % and 45.16 % respectively. Calculating the concordance between the two techniques revealed Cohen’s Kappa value of 0.038 in the range 0.21—0.40, which corresponded to a very low agreement. The McNemar test results showed that both tests gave significantly different results (P < 0.05). This work provides evidence for Anaplasma spp. in goats from north-eastern Algeria.

No abstract