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Caprine toxoplasmosis in Southern Brazil: a comparative seroepidemiological study between the indirect immunofluorescence assay, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the modified agglutination test

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Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of caprine toxoplasmosis in goat herds from Southern Brazil by the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and compared these results with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the modified agglutination test (MAT). In addition, possible risk factors associated with infection due to Toxoplasma gondii were determined. The serum samples evaluated were from 1,058 goats derived from 94 goat herds within the state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Seropositivity by IFA was 30.0%, 33.3% by ELISA, and 25.3% by MAT. The risk factors associated with infection by T. gondii in goats were pasture rental, female goats, the presence of cats, and pastures shared with several goat herds. Using IFA as a standard, ELISA and MAT showed substantial concordance (kappa = 0.74 and 0.61), with sensitivities of 87 and 66.2% and specificities of 89.7 and 92.2%, respectively. These results demonstrate that caprine toxoplasmosis is endemic within the state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. In addition, the results from the three assays were relevant, without any significant differences as demonstrated due to the substantial concordance based on the kappa index.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 Km 380, Campus Universitário, PO Box 10.011, Paraná, 86057-970, Brazil

    Maira Salomão Fortes, Eloiza Teles Caldart, Caroline Constantino, Fernanda Evers, Sthefany Pagliari, Jonatas Campos de Almeida, Luiz Daniel Barros, Roberta Lemos Freire, João Luis Garcia, Selwyn Arlington Headley & Italmar Teodorico Navarro

  2. School of Veterinary Medicine, Centro Universitário Filadélfia, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

    Fabiana Maria Ruiz Lopes-Mori

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  1. Maira Salomão Fortes
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  2. Fabiana Maria Ruiz Lopes-Mori
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  3. Eloiza Teles Caldart
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  4. Caroline Constantino
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  12. Italmar Teodorico Navarro
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Correspondence to Selwyn Arlington Headley.

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This study was approved by the Ethics and Experimentation Animal Committee (CEUA-UEL, protocol 192/09) and conducted according to the guidelines of the Brazilian College of Animal Experimentation.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Fortes, M.S., Lopes-Mori, F.M.R., Caldart, E. et al. Caprine toxoplasmosis in Southern Brazil: a comparative seroepidemiological study between the indirect immunofluorescence assay, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the modified agglutination test. Trop Anim Health Prod 50, 413–419 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1450-1

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