title: Risk factors related to Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in indoor-housed Dutch dairy goats.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii can cause disease in goats, but also has impact on human health through food-borne transmission. Our aims were to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in indoor-housed Dutch dairy goats and to identify the risk factors related to T. gondii seroprevalence. Fifty-two out of ninety approached farmers with indoor-kept goats (58%) participated by answering a standardized questionnaire and contributing 32 goat blood samples each. Serum samples were tested for T. gondii SAG1 antibodies by ELISA and results showed that the frequency distribution of the log10-transformed OD-values fitted well with a binary mixture of a shifted gamma and a shifted reflected gamma distribution. The overall animal seroprevalence was 13.3% (95% CI: 11.7–14.9%), and at least one seropositive animal was found on 61.5% (95% CI: 48.3–74.7%) of the farms. To evaluate potential risk factors on herd level, three modeling strategies (Poisson, negative binomial and zero-inflated) were compared. The negative binomial model fitted the data best with the number of cats (1–4 cats: IR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.1–6.5; > = 5 cats:IR: 14.2, 95% CI: 3.9–51.1) and mean animal age (IR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1–2.1) related to herd positivity. In conclusion, the ELISA test was 100% sensitive and specific based on binary mixture analysis. T. gondii infection is prevalent in indoor housed Dutch dairy goats but at a lower overall animal level seroprevalence than outdoor farmed goats in other European countries, and cat exposure is an important risk factor.
authors.forename: Huifang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dam-Deisz
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luttikholt
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maas
authors.forename: Mirjam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nielen
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Swart
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vellema
authors.forename: Joke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Giessen
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Opsteegh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D016010:Binomial Distribution; D003612:Dairying; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006041:Goats; D006799:Housing, Animal; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan