Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) of Thal and Cholistan deserts, Punjab, Pakistan

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 118; no. 1; pp. 307 - 316
• Main Authors: Fatima, Tabassam, Mehnaz, Saba, Wang, Min, Yang, Jichao, Sajid, Muhammad Sohail, Shen, Bang, Zhao, Junlong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan - blood; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Camelidae; Camels; Camelus - parasitology; Camelus dromedarius; Deserts; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Factor analysis; Female; Health aspects; Host-parasite relationships; Immunology; Infections; Male; Meat; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Pakistan - epidemiology; Pregnancy; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Protozoa; Protozoology - Original Paper; Public health; Risk Factors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Serology; Statistics; Toxoplasma; Toxoplasma - classification; Toxoplasma - genetics; Toxoplasma - immunology; Toxoplasma - isolation & purification; Toxoplasmosis, Animal - blood; Toxoplasmosis, Animal - epidemiology; Toxoplasmosis, Animal - parasitology; Zoonoses; Pakistan; Punjab Pakistan; Seroepidemiology; ); Pakistan; Camel; Indirect ELISA; Toxoplasma gondii; Camel (Camelus dromedaries)
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-018-6124-z

Toxoplasma (T.) gondii is an important zoonotic protozoan infecting humans and a wide range of animals. In this study, we determine the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with the seroprevalence of T. gondii in one-humped camels ( Camelus dromedarius ) in Pakistan. Camels are still an important mean of transportation in some desert areas in Pakistan. In addition, they are the main source of meat and milk for people in those regions; therefore, they have the potential to transmit T. gondii to humans. In order to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii , a total of 897 sera samples were collected from camels in the Thal ( n  = 359) and Cholistan ( n  = 440) deserts, along with other districts of Chakwal ( n  = 44) and Faisalabad ( n  = 54) Punjab, Pakistan, through convenient and snowball sampling techniques. These samples were then analyzed by an indirect enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA) for the presence of T. gondii -specific antibodies, using purified recombinant micronemal protein 3 (MIC3) as an antibody-catching antigen. Our results showed an overall seroprevalence of T. gondii as 40.1% (Thal = 45%; Cholistan = 35.9%; other districts = 33.7%). Risk factor analysis suggested that infection rate was higher in older animals (70.6%). In addition, female camels carried frequent infection (48.8%) than males (22.4%). What’s more, female animals having abortion history showed even higher infection rate (75%) compared to pregnant (68.4%) and non-pregnant (42.4%) animals. Our results reported high seroprevelance of T. gondii in camels in Pakistan which provided important information with respect to public health and disease controls.