Study on the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in sheep and goats of Tabriz area using the ELISA method

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases and causes abortion in sheep and goats. In order to detect the slaughterhouse infection rate of toxoplasmosis in sheep and goats of Tabriz area, 186 blood sera samples were prepared and examined for IgG antibodies against toxoplasmosis using the ELISA method. Serological results indicated that the infection rate of Toxoplasma gondii was 18.3% with 13.45% of the infection rate related to sheep and 4.85% related to goats. The results indicate significant difference in the infection rate between sheep and goats of the region which could be related to the higher susceptibility of sheep to toxoplasmosis in comparison with goats. Based on the results of the study the infection rate in females was higher than males with the infection rate in male sheep being 11.5% while that of the females was 25.8% indicating signification difference in infection rates between males and females. The infection rate in male and female goats was 9.1% and 10.8% respectively and no significant difference in infection rate was observed between male and female goats