TOXOPLASMOSIS IN BROILERS FROM DAKAR - SENEGAL: PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common zoonosis worldwide. Caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, it has estimated that up to a third of the human population worldwides infected with it. Humans are infected by ingesting oocysts shed by cats or by eating undercooked meat containing cysts.T. gondii can cause serious illness to the fetus during a congenital infection and fatal in immuno-compromised patients too. In addition, it infects a wide range of animals, including mammals and birds. In birds, all species can be infected with various signs. Little is known about the prevalence in short-cycle species (broilers). However, due to their feeding habits (birds are pecking and their food is usually soil), the prevalence in birds could be a good indicator of the prevalence of parasite oocysts in soil. Thus, to verify environmental contamination, the prevalence of T. gondii in 459 short-cycle birds (broilers) was determined in Dakar, Senegal. The diagnostic test used was the High Sensitivity Direct Agglutination test (ADHS). The results showed the presence of antibodies against T. gondii in 29 (6.36%) of the broilers Gallus domesticus. This study is the first of its kind to investigate T. gondii in short-cycle domestic poultry in Senegal. Other studies should be carried out with additional and more reliable techniques on this environmental aspect in order to measure the real parasite load and the risks that this could generate.