title: High prevalence of toxoplasmosis in free-range chicken of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil.
abstract: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in free-range chickens of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil and to identify risk factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii infection. Blood samples were collected from all the adult chickens raised in the Archipelago and screened by Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (430 samples, in total). Univariate analysis (Chi-square) and logistic regression were used to investigate the relationship between various variables possibly predictive of an increased likelihood of T. gondii infection. The overall prevalence of T. gondii infection in chickens of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago was 88.4% (380/430; 84.6%-91.0%; 95% CI), ranging from 57.1% to 100.0% among the studied properties. The risk factors associated with T. gondii infection were the number of domestic cats in the properties (p=0.022), the presence of feral cats (p=0.006) and the presence of an open water source (p=0.046). Domestic and feral cats should be prevented from accessing the water and food supplied to chickens.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary, Health Surveillance Unit of the District of Fernando de Noronha, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Jorge Rodrigues
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Doenças Infecto-Contagiosas dos Animais Domésticos, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Givanildo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Doenças Infecto-Contagiosas dos Animais Domésticos, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Müller
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ribeiro-Andrade
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Doenças Infecto-Contagiosas dos Animais Domésticos, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Wilton
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Doenças Infecto-Contagiosas dos Animais Domésticos, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: rinaldo.mota@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rinaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aparecido Mota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000469:parasitology*; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002415:Cats; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology*; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
keywords: Epidemiology; Free-range chickens; Toxoplasmosis