**1. Introduction**

54 Toxoplasmosis – Recent Advances

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Toxoplasmosis is a significant zoonosis that affects humans and warm blooded animals. The definitive hosts of parasite *Toxoplasma gondii* are cats and other felids. Many species of domestic, wild or zoo animals may serve as intermediate hosts.

In humans, clinical form of toxoplasmosis is rare in immunocompetent people, while it may leads to eye diseases, CNS or generalized infection in immunocompromissed individuals as well as interfere with the course or outcome of pregnancy. In Europe, *T. gondii* seroprevalence in humans ranges from 8% to 77% (Dubey 2010). In the Czech Republic, *T. gondii* antibodies were detected in 35% and 25% pregnant women by Sabin-Feldman Test (SFT) and Complement Fixation Test (CFT), respectively (Hejlicek et al. 1999). Repeated prevalence studies in humans in some European countries (France, Belgium, Sweden and Norway), revealed an evident trend of a decrease in *T. gondii* seroprevalence (Welton and Ades 2005). The same trend is observed in the Czech Republic. The prevalence of infection varies among ethnic groups due to sanitary and cooking habits. Consumption of raw or almost raw, dried, cured or smoked meat from domestic animals, unpasteurized goat milk or consumption of meat from wild animals may be associated with ingestion of the parasite (Kijlstra and Jongert 2008, Jones et al. 2009). Higher prevalence was found also in people who had frequent contact with animals and soil, such as abattoir workers, garbage handlers and waste pickers (Dubey and Beattie 1988). Children playing with dogs and cats can be infected by direct contact because animals can act as mechanical vectors (Etheredge et al. 2004).

In animals, *T. gondii* infection is a frequent cause of early embryonic death and resorption, fetal death and mummification, abortion, still birth and neonatal death. Thus, toxoplasmosis in domestic and farm animals is a disease of great importance for veterinary medicine and husbandry since it can cause productive and economic losses.

© 2012 Bartova and Sedlak, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2012 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*T. gondii* antibodies have been found in animals worldwide. Seroprevalence to *T. gondii* varies among countries, within different areas of a country and within the same city. Dubey (2010) summarized the results of seroprevalence studies performed on different groups of animals from several countries.

Toxoplasmosis in Animals in the Czech Republic – The Last 10 Years 57

In a group of game animals, a prevalence of 15% was found in wild boars by SFT (Hejlicek et al. 1997), 4 – 31% in hares by SFT or Microprecipitation in Agar (MPA) (Havlik and Hubner 1958, Zastera et al. 1966, Vosta et al. 1981, Hejlicek et al. 1997), and 14 – 58% prevalence in wild ruminants by SFT (Havlik and Hubner 1958, Zastera et al. 1966, Hejlicek et al.

These studies were performed by one or by a combination of methods such as SFT, CFT, MPA and Indirect Hemaglutination Assay (IHA). Nowadays, these methods are less frequently used; it is preferred to use Modified Agglutination Test (MAT), and/or Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT), and/or an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELI-SA), and/or a Latex Agglutination Test (LAT). This trend is also evident from a recent review summarized worldwide prevalence of *T. gondii* infection in animals and humans

Based on the results of examination of different groups of animals in the State Veterinary Institute Prague in years 2003 – 2006, it is evident that lethal toxoplasmosis in the Czech Republic is the most important in some species of zoo animals; while in domestic animals it was not proved (Sedlak and Bartova 2007). Contrary, the sera of cats and dogs were the most frequently examined. Insufficient attention is paid to small ruminants that can abort or

That is why during the last 10 years, our research team focused on *T. gondii* serosurveys in different groups of animals to obtain actual data and to evaluate which group of animals is the most affected by *T. gondii* infection. Following parts of chapter summarises the results of seroprevalence studies in domestic, game and zoo animals tested by using IFAT, ELISA and LAT with the possibility to compare the results with those obtained from other countries with the same methods used. The results of experimental studies and cases of clinical toxo-

During years 1995-2012, the samples of blood were collected from different groups of animals and examined for specific *T. gondii* antibodies. The animals tested for *T. gondii* antibodies were clinically healthy, no case of abortion or other symptoms of toxoplasmosis were recorded. The blood samples were collected by veterinarians on farms, zoo or during hunting seasons and sent to State Veterinary Institute Prague for routine examination.

In a group of domestic animals, in total 4254 animals were tested with the following number of animals used: 286 cats, 413 dogs, 547 sheep, 251 goats, 546 cattle, 551 pigs, 552 horses and 1108 poultry (217 chickens and 293 broilers, 60 turkeys, 178 geese and 360 ducks). The

animals came from 2 – 14 different districts of the Czech Republic (Figure 1).

have reproduction disorders due to toxoplasmosis with subsequent economic losses.

plasmosis recorded in the Czech Republic are mentioned too.

**2. Toxoplasmosis in domestic animals** 

**2.1. Recent data from the Czech Republic** 

1997).

(Dubey 2010).

*Serological studies* 

In the Czech Republic, some important studies concerning *T. gondii* in animals were done in past years. The seroprevalence of *T. gondii* infection in domestic animals obtained by different serological methods is summarized in Table 1.


SFT – Sabin-Feldman Test, CFT – Complement Fixation Test, MPA – Microprecipitation in Agar, IHA –Indirect Hemaglutination Assay, IFAT – Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test

**Table 1.** *Toxoplasma gondii* prevalence and assays used in different groups of domestic animals in the Czech Republic until year 2000

In a group of game animals, a prevalence of 15% was found in wild boars by SFT (Hejlicek et al. 1997), 4 – 31% in hares by SFT or Microprecipitation in Agar (MPA) (Havlik and Hubner 1958, Zastera et al. 1966, Vosta et al. 1981, Hejlicek et al. 1997), and 14 – 58% prevalence in wild ruminants by SFT (Havlik and Hubner 1958, Zastera et al. 1966, Hejlicek et al. 1997).

These studies were performed by one or by a combination of methods such as SFT, CFT, MPA and Indirect Hemaglutination Assay (IHA). Nowadays, these methods are less frequently used; it is preferred to use Modified Agglutination Test (MAT), and/or Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT), and/or an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELI-SA), and/or a Latex Agglutination Test (LAT). This trend is also evident from a recent review summarized worldwide prevalence of *T. gondii* infection in animals and humans (Dubey 2010).

Based on the results of examination of different groups of animals in the State Veterinary Institute Prague in years 2003 – 2006, it is evident that lethal toxoplasmosis in the Czech Republic is the most important in some species of zoo animals; while in domestic animals it was not proved (Sedlak and Bartova 2007). Contrary, the sera of cats and dogs were the most frequently examined. Insufficient attention is paid to small ruminants that can abort or have reproduction disorders due to toxoplasmosis with subsequent economic losses.

That is why during the last 10 years, our research team focused on *T. gondii* serosurveys in different groups of animals to obtain actual data and to evaluate which group of animals is the most affected by *T. gondii* infection. Following parts of chapter summarises the results of seroprevalence studies in domestic, game and zoo animals tested by using IFAT, ELISA and LAT with the possibility to compare the results with those obtained from other countries with the same methods used. The results of experimental studies and cases of clinical toxoplasmosis recorded in the Czech Republic are mentioned too.
