Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum antibodies in goats in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes infections in many vertebrate species. The present study determined the seroprevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum in goats from the Czech Republic. Serum samples were collected from 251 healthy adult goats in the Czech Republic during the years 2006 to 2009. Sera samples were tested for serum antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with cut off equal to or higher than 50% S/P. The same samples were tested for serum antibodies to Neospora caninum by a competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with cut off equal to or higher than 30% inhibition; positive sera were confirmed by an indirect fluorescent antibody test with cut-off titre equal to or higher than 40. Sera positive in both tests were marked as positive. In total, 166 (66%) and 15 (6%) goat sera reacted positively for T. gondii and N. caninum antibodies, respectively. All sera positive for N. caninum antibodies were simultaneously positive for T. gondii antibodies. This is the first detection of N. caninum antibodies in goats in the Czech Republic. Our findings indicate that goats in the Czech Republic are frequently exposed to T. gondii, but less frequently to N. caninum.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using recombinant TgSAG2 and NcSAG1 to detect <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> and <i>Neospora caninum</i>-specific antibodies in domestic animals in Turkey

“…The Neospora was reported at a prevalence of 3.3% and 6% in goats from Brazil and Czech Republic, respectively. Furthermore, 8.1% of sheep from Uberlandia, and 16.8% of sheep and 6.9% of goats from Greece showed seropositive for anti- N. caninum antibodies in a previous study [2, 12, 24]. The seroprevalence of N. caninum in sheep and goats obtained by us is similar with other reports from different countries.…”

“…N. caninum is the causative agent of neosporosis, an infection that always causes reproductive failure in cattle, sheep, goats and horses, and neurological alterations in dogs [1, 10, 26]. Numerous epidemiologic studies of toxoplasmosis and neosporosis have been reported in many areas worldwide [2, 6, 20, 27]. However, the epidemiological information about the seroprevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum is limited in Turkey [19].…”

Evidence of Neospora caninum exposure among native Korean goats (Capra hircus coreanae)

“…These results were obtained using ELISA. In the Czech Republic, the seroprevalence was reported to be 15 out of 251 (6.0%) using ELISA and the immunofluorescence antibody test (Bartova and Sedlak 2012). The prevalence in our present study was lower than that reported for other countries.…”

Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and tick-transmitted bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum infections in one selected goat farm in Slovakia

“…In another survey from Poland only 0.47% of animals were Neospora-seropositive using an indirect ELISA method (Czopowicz et al 2011). In the neighboring Czech Republic, Bártová and Sedlák (2012) determined 25.0% seroprevalence using competitive ELISA.…”

“…Similar data were obtained in neighbouring countries. In the Czech Republic, Bártová and Sedlák (2012) recorded 66% seroprevalence in goats by latex-agglutination test against T. gondii, and in Austria it was more than 69% using the IFAT method (Edelhofer and Prossinger, unpublished data). The occurrence of toxoplasmosis in Europe ranges from sporadic outbreaks to the massive infection with clinical outcome in the herd (Antonis et al 1998;Masala et al 2003).…”