title: Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Norwegian dairy goats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Toxoplasma gondii is a major problem for the sheep industry as it may cause reproduction problems. The importance of T. gondii in Norwegian goat herds is uncertain, but outbreaks of toxoplasmosis in dairy goat farms have been recorded. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of T. gondii infection in Norwegian dairy goats by using serology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Goat serum originally collected as part of two nationwide surveillance and control programmes between 2002 and 2008 were examined for T. gondii antibodies by using direct agglutination test. In total, 55 of 73 herds (75%) had one or more serologically positive animals, while 377 of 2188 (17%) of the individual samples tested positive for T. gondii antibodies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first prevalence study of T. gondii infection in Norwegian goats. The results show that Norwegian goat herds are commonly exposed to T. gondii. Nevertheless, the majority of goat herds have a low prevalence of antibody positive animals, which make them vulnerable to infections with T. gondii during the gestation period.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 DepNO-0033, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stormoen
authors.forename: Jorun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tharaldsen
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hopp
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D003612:Dairying; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006041:Goats; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan