Vet Med - Czech, 2004, 49(1):9-13 | DOI: 10.17221/5667-VETMED

Prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in horses in the province of Kars, Turkey

A. Akca, C. Babur, Arslan MO, Y. Gicik, M. Kara, S. Kilic
1 , Y. G 1, M. K 1, S. K 2 1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafkas University, Kars, Turkey
2 Parasitology Laboratory, Refik Saydam Hygiene Centre, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey

This study investigates the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in horses from seven villages in the province of Kars in north-eastern Turkey. A total of 189 serum samples from clinically healthy, local crossbred horses were tested for anti-T. gondii antibodies using the Sabin-Feldman dye test. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 39 (20.6%) horses, with specific titres of 1 : 16 (27), 1 : 64 (11) and 1 : 256 (1). The 95% confidence interval for the population proportion ranged from 13.3 to 27.9%. The number of seropositive horses in Yucelen village (40%) was considerably higher than in other villages, whereas in the villages of Caglayan (8%) and Cerme (10.5%) the seroprevalence was lower than elsewhere. However, the differences in seroprevalence between the seven villages were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In contrast, the overall seroprevalence in the province of Kars was significantly higher than that reported previously in studies carried out on army and private horse stud farms elsewhere in Turkey (P < 0.05). The relevance of these findings to the epizootiology of toxoplasmosis in Kars and Turkey is discussed.

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; horse; seroprevalence; dye test; Turkey

Published: January 31, 2004  Show citation

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Akca A, Babur C, Arslan M, Gicik Y, Kara M, Kilic S. Prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in horses in the province of Kars, Turkey. Vet Med - Czech. 2004;49(1):9-13. doi: 10.17221/5667-VETMED.
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