title: Seroprevalence and Spatial Distribution of Toxoplasmosis in Sheep and Goats in North-Eastern Region of Pakistan.
abstract: Toxoplasmosis is a protozoan disease that is caused by Toxoplasma gondii in livestock and humans. Due to its medical and veterinary importance, it is essential to study the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection among humans and animals in various parts of the world. The major objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and spatial distribution of toxoplasmosis in small ruminants (sheep and goats) of north-eastern region, Pakistan. A total of 1,000 animals comprising of sheep (n=470) and goats (n=530) were examined for T. gondii infection by using ELISA. An epidemiological data was collected in the form of questionnaire. A surface has been generated by using method of interpolation in Arc GIS with the help of IDW (inverse distance weight). The results showed higher seroprevalence of T. gondii in goats (42.8%) as compared to sheep (26.2%). The seroprevalence was higher in females as compared to males in all examined ruminants. Similarly, there is a wide variation in the seroprevalence of T. gondii in different breeds of sheep and goats showing higher seroprevalence in Teddy (52.8%) and Damani breed (34.5%) of goat and sheep's, respectively. The geographical and spatial distribution of T. gondii shows that it is widely distributed in different parts of the north-eastern region of Pakistan. Our results suggest widespread environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts. It suggests us that small ruminants could be a potentially important source of T. gondii infection if their infected meat is consumed undercooked.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences,COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad, Pakistan.|Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Firat, 23119, Elazig, Turkey.
authors.forename: Haroon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arshad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Government Postgraduate College Chishtian, Punjab, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Irfan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mustafa
authors.affiliation: Department of Remote Sensing & GIS, PMAS-University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mobushir Riaz
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, UMT Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Sohail
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Afzal
authors.affiliation: Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Shahzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Sargodha, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mobeen
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Firat, 23119, Elazig, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simsek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006041:Goats; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019371:Topography, Medical; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
keywords: ELISA; Pakistan; Toxoplasma gondii; goat; seroprevalence; sheep; spatial distribution