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Published on: July 29, 2012
Isolation and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii from free-ranging chickens from Argentina
J P Dubey1, M C Venturini, L Venturini
1Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Building 1001, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA. jdubey@anri.barc.usda.gov
Abstract:
The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in free-ranging chickens can be considered a good indicator of the prevalence of T. gondii oocysts in the environment because chickens feed from the ground. In the present study, prevalence of T. gondii in 29 free-range chickens (Gallus domesticus) from Argentina was investigated. Blood, heart, and brain from each chicken were examined for T. gondii infection. Antibodies to T. gondii, assayed with the modified agglutination test (MAT), were found in 19 of 29 (65.5%) chickens. Hearts and brains of seropositive (MAT > or = 1:5) chickens were bioassayed in mice. Toxoplasma gondii was isolated from 9 of 19 seropositive chickens. Genotyping of chicken isolates of T. gondii using the SAG2 locus indicated that 1 was type I, 1 was type II, and 7 were type III. This is the first report of isolation of T. gondii from chickens from Argentina.
