Serodiagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in ducks from Behera Governorate, Egypt

ABSTRACT Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonotic parasite. The diagnosis of infection in animals is an important tool to prevent human infection. In the present study, Toxoplasma gondii was diagnosed by using the modified agglutination test (MAT) in ducks from Behera Governorate, Egypt. The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii was 13.9%. The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii was the highest in the Native breed (17.65%) and in 6-8-months age group (19.4%). End-point titer of 1:25, 1:50, and 1:100 were recorded in 61.9%, 19.05%, and 19.05% of the positive samples, respectively. Duck meat is one source of the Toxoplasma gondii infection for human in Egypt. Keywords: Toxoplamsa gondii ; Modified agglutination test (MAT); Ducks; Egypt. INTRODUCTION Ducks are strong animals and good scavengers. They are easier and cheaper to keep than chickens. This makes duck keeping for the production of eggs and meat an attractive enterprise. About 700 million ducks are kept worldwide. The majority, more than 500 million, are in Asia. Despite this uneven distribution, it is possible to raise ducks in other parts of the world, including Africa and Latin America. Ducks can be reared for eggs and meat for own use or for sale. Other products from ducks which can also be sold include down, feathers, fattened livers (van der Meulen and den Dikken, 2004). Ducks are of 2 types, Muscovy ducks (