Natural infection of free-range chickens with the ascarid nematode Toxocara sp
| Autor: | Jeanne Saraiva da Paz, Luis C. P. Valli, Marcus A. V. Beltrame, Fausto Edmundo Lima Pereira, Viviane R. Fortunato, Danielle R. Campos-da-Silva |
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| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Veterinary medicine
animal structures Antibodies Helminth Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Cross Reactions medicine Prevalence Animals Humans Ascaridia galli Poultry Diseases Toxocara Toxocariasis General Veterinary biology Embryonated Free range General Medicine biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Infectious Diseases Nematode Canis Insect Science embryonic structures biology.protein Parasitology Antibody Chickens Brazil Toxocara canis |
| Zdroj: | Parasitology research. 114(11) |
| ISSN: | 1432-1955 |
| Popis: | Human toxocariasis may be acquired by eating raw chicken liver. However, there are no reports on the prevalence of natural infection of chickens with Toxocara. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies as indicators of natural infection with Toxocara, in free-range chickens from Espirito Santo State, Brazil. An ELISA test with secretory and excretory Toxocara canis antigens was used. Negative controls were 20 industrial chickens reared in a high hygiene standard environment. Positive control serum was from a chicken infected with embryonated eggs of T. canis. Sera were adsorbed with Ascaridia galli extract to reduce cross-reactivity. Cut-off was the mean plus four times the standard deviation of optical density (OD) in negative group. One hundred and fifty-seven sera from free-range chicken were investigated. Results showed 58.5% of the chickens were positive with ELISA test; 12.7% had OD over the positive control and may be considered as true infected chickens. The results between the cut-off and the positive control may include infections with low titers of antibodies or may represent serum scar of past infection or may be the result of cross-reaction with other nematodes rather than A. galli which is used for the adsorption of sera. In conclusion, high prevalence of Toxocara sp. antibodies demonstrates natural infection of free-range chickens from Espirito Santo State which may represent a risk of infection with this nematode in people who have the habit of eating raw or undercooked chicken meat or viscera. The results also suggest that chickens may be useful as sentinels to detect soil contaminated with Toxocara eggs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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