title: A sero-epidemiological survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection in free-range and caged chickens in northeast China.
abstract: Acquisition of Toxoplasma gondii infections is mainly through ingestion of parasite-contaminated food. T. gondii oocyst distribution in the living environment of human and livestock is directly linked to the prevalence of the parasite infection in humans and domestic animals. In this study, we investigated the sero-prevalence of T. gondii infection in free-range as well as caged chicken in northeast China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential prevalence of T. gondii oocysts in the environments. Sera of 308 free-range chickens and 210 caged chickens collected in three areas in northeast China were tested for anti-T. gondii antibodies with ELISA assays. The infection rates of free-range and caged chickens were 34.7% and 2.8% respectively, indicating that the parasite is widely distributed in the environment and poses threatens to the health of people living in those areas.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Jibao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jigang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ankarlev
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lindh
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D002645:Chickens / Q000097:blood*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan