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Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease that affects many different species, including humans. It can cause serious clinical symptoms, including neurological symptoms and abortion. Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent, is particularly concerning due to sheep's extraordinary sensitivity to the disease. It can spread zoonotically through the ingestion of undercooked meat from infected animals. Numerous global investigations have demonstrated that T. gondii seroprevalence in sheep can vary greatly based on biological and environmental characteristics. Methods: To examine the biological and environmental factors that could influence the probability of ovine infection, samples were taken from a subset of sheep kept on 20 farms. The modified agglutination test (MAT) was used to detect antibodies in sera samples from 247 sheep in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. Results: Sixty of the 247 sera examined (24.3%) contained T. gondii antibodies. Among these, 51 (25.4%) of the ewes and 9 (19.6%) of the rams had antibodies against T. gondii. Adult sheep (27.3%) had a greater seroprevalence compared to younger sheep (17.3%). Additionally, there were significant seasonal variations, with wet seasons showing a higher prevalence. Conclusions: Age, cats' access to water sources, the source of drinking water, and the season were all associated with T. gondii seroprevalence.
Pashmforosh et al. (Wed,) studied this question.