Prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in horses in the province of Kars, Turkey

Abstract

This study investigates the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in horses from seven villages in the province of Kars in north-eastern Turkey. A total of 189 serum samples from clinically healthy, local crossbred horses were tested for anti-T. gondii antibodies using the Sabin-Feldman dye test. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 39 (20.6%) horses, with specific titres of 1: 16 (27), 1: 64 (11) and 1: 256 (1). The 95% confidence interval for the population proportion ranged from 13.3 to 27.9%. The number of seropositive horses in Yucelen village (40%) was considerably higher than in other villages, whereas in the villages of Caglayan (8%) and Cerme (10.5%) the seroprevalence was lower than elsewhere. However, the differences in seroprevalence between the seven villages were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In contrast, the overall seroprevalence in the province of Kars was significantly higher than that reported previously in studies carried out on army and private horse stud farms elsewhere in Turkey (P < 0.05). The relevance of these findings to the epizootiology of toxoplasmosis in Kars and Turkey is discussed.