Toxoplasma gondii is widely distributed in humans and other animals including domestic poultry throughout the world, but data on prevalence of T. gondii in ducks in People's Republic of China (PRC), especially in the southwest China are limited. In the present study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in free-range (FR) and caged ducks was investigated in Chongqing municipality (southwest China) during the period from February to July 2013. A total of 1162 serum samples including 635 FR ducks and 527 caged ducks from 8 municipal districts/counties including Yongchuan, Dazu, Rongchang, Hechuan, Liangping, Wanzhou, Yunyang and Kaixian were collected and assayed for T. gondii antibodies using modified agglutination test (MAT) technique. Partial seropositive samples were validated for T. gondii by bioassay in mice. The prevalence in FR and caged ducks was 13.23% and 6.64% respectively. Statistical analysis showed that FR group was significantly higher than caged group (p<0.05). From 12 FR ducks in Rongchang, one strain of T. gondii was successfully isolated and the isolation rate was 8.33% (1/12). This is the first report of isolation of T. gondii from FR ducks in China.
展开▼
