ABSTRACT
Toxoplasmosis is a widespread parasitic zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasmosis can cause congenital abnormalities during pregnancy, abortions, and encephalitis in both people and animals. The present study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in reproductive-age women and ruminants. Moreover, molecular identification was assessed for T. gondii isolated from cats, for the first time, in Aswan Governorate, Egypt. Blood samples were obtained, and serum was isolated from reproductive-age women (n=178) and ruminant animals (n=150) from the same locality. Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis was determined using a rapid test (RT) and ELISA kits. Additionally, fecal samples from 100 cats were collected for the detection of T. gondii oocysts, and then processed by PCR for molecular and phylogenetic analysis. The phylogenetic tree was designed using the sequences collected and uploaded to the GenBank database. For human toxoplasmosis, IgM (ELISA) was more diagnostic twice than IgM (RT), and the percentages were 24.2% and 10.1%, respectively. However, IgG (ELISA) prevalence rate was 66.3 %, and the IgG (RT) was 62.9 %. Moreover, the seroprevalence rate of toxoplasmosis in ruminants was 23.3% and 25.3% for IgM (ELISA) and IgM (RT), respectively. The results of toxoplasmosis prevalence in humans and ruminants were statistically significant (P≤ 0.001). Toxoplasmosis was 30% of the examined cats. The present study has identified two distinct gene sequences for T. gondii that are associated with the gender of cats. Our findings detected that women of reproductive age and companion animals are more likely to be exposed to T. gondii.
Keywords: Toxoplasmosis, Seroprevalence, Human, Animals, Molecular, Phylogenetic, Zoonotic, Aswan