Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Sheep in Northern Palestineand Jordan Valley

摘要

This study investigated the incidence of toxoplasmosis in sheep flocks in Palestine through testing Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sheep at three locations at the northern West Bank and two cities in Jordan valley of the Palestinian Territories. A totalof2479 blood samples were collected and the plasma was tested using indirect ELISA. Results showed that the infected sheep were 20.5% of total samples. The infection was highest in Jenin (30.2%) followed by Nablus (24%), Tulkarm (18.6%) Jericho (15.5%)then Tubas with lowest infection rate at 0.9%. There was a significant (P < 0.05) difference in the rate of infection between all site compared to Tubas. At the sheep farm level, Jenin was of highest infection rate (91.3%) followed by Tulkarm (88.9%), Nablus (84.2%), Jericho (73%) and Tubas (9.1%). These findings indicated that sheep products (milk, meat) might be at risk of contamination with the T. gondii, which had a potential health problem to consumers of sheep origin products.