Toxoplasmosis in camels Emphasis Type="Italic"C

Authors: Endrias Zewdu Gebremedhin Nura Dima Ashenafi Feyisa Beyi Fufa Dawo Negassa Feyissa Edilu Jorga Vincenzo Di Marco Maria Vitale

Publish Date: 2016/08/24

Volume: 48, Issue: 8, Pages: 1599-1606

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Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most prevalent parasitic infections of medical and veterinary importance A crosssectional study was conducted from November 2013 to January 2014 to estimate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in camels from four districts of Borana zone Southern Oromia Ethiopia In addition a questionnaire survey was administered to 124 pastoralists to identify possible risk factors and to assess the awareness level of pastoral communities about toxoplasmosis A total of 396 serum samples were examined for antiToxoplasma IgG antibodies using the direct agglutination test DAT Fisher’s exact test and logistic regression were used for data analysis An overall seroprevalence of 833  95  confidence interval CI 560  1107  at animallevel and 375  95  CI 201  574  at herdlevel was found The seroprevalence was significantly high in Moyale district 2307  followed by Yabello 720  Dirre 377  and Arero 00  districts P  0001 Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the likelihood of acquiring T gondii infection was significantly higher in camels of Moyale district adjusted OR = 589 95  CI 215 1612 P = 0001 than Dirre district in camels of 8 years old adjusted odds ratio OR = 495 95  CI 168 1455 P = 0004 than camels of ≤4 years old There was no significant association between herdlevel seroprevalence of T gondii infection and abortion history herd size and presence of domestic cats and wild felids P  005 The majority of interviewees were uneducated 8225  and all had no knowledge of toxoplasmosis All camel herders drink raw camel milk but consume cooked meat 9032  Of the interviewees 9306  are aware about soileating habit of camels and provide salt supplement for their camels Majority of the respondents practice improper disposal of aborted materials throw along the way 8870  and 73  of the study participants do not wash their hands after handling aborted fetus The results of the present study confirm relatively lower prevalence of T gondii infection in camels reared in Borana zone Age and study district are significant predictors of T gondii seropositivity The vast majorities of interviewed pastoralists were uneducated and practice poor biosecurity measures to prevent diseases Education of pastoralists about biosecurity measures to prevent toxoplasmosis and further studies are warranted to unravel the economic and public health consequences of T gondii infectionThe authors would like to thank the financial support of Addis Ababa University subthematic project investigation on major camel diseases in Ethiopia and development of intervention strategies and the Italian National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia A Mirri Italy and partial financial support to Maria Vitale grant No RF 2007/RC The authors are grateful to the camel owners pastoralists for their collaboration in the sampling and supplying information

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