The sero-prevalence of toxoplasma antibodies in human and selected livestock species in Jamaica - abstract

ABSTRACT

Results of an island-wide survey of human and selected livestock species in Jamaica during the period January to August, 1987, demonstrated signficant exposure rates in all species surveyed. The sampling frame for animals and humans was unrelated to clinical signs of the disease and therefore may present an unbiased indication of Toxoplasmosis in the Jamaican animal and human populations. Toxoplasma titres, determined by the Indirect Haemagglutination Test, were considered positive at a titre of 164. The overall prevalence rate was 42 percent. The sero-prevalence rates found for each species were cattle, 16 percent dogs, 31 percent sheep 40 percent horses, 41 percent goats, 56 percent cats, 56 percent and, humans, 48 percent. The highest sero-prevalence rates occurred in goats and cats with the lowest occurring in cattle. The high titres found in some species probably suggests current active, or recent, infection with Toxoplasma. How man acquires this particular zoonosis in Jamaica remains obscure. The possibility of a spatial relationship between the high sero-prevalence rates in goats, cats and humans clearly requires further investigation. The true incidence and prevalence rates of Toxoplasmosis in both humans and animals in Jamaica remain largely undetermined and the economic and public health significance unknown (AU)