Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in sows from slaughterhouses and in pigs from an indoor and an outdoor farm in Argentina

The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies from slaughter sows and from pigs raised at an indoor and an outdoor swine farm. Serum samples were obtained from 230 slaughter sows belonging to 83 farms distributed in 5 provinces. Blood samples were collected monthly from pigs of different ages from an intensive management indoor farm (farm 1). A cross-sectional study was carried-out from an outdoor farm (farm 2). All sera were tested for T gondii antibodies by the modified agglutination test (MAT), using formalin-fixed tachyzoites as antigen. An antibody titer greater than or equal to1:25 was considered positive. Antibodies to T gondii were detected in 87 (37.8%) of 230 sows sera. Distribution among provinces was: 37.1% from Santa Fe, 62.8% from Buenos Aires, 3.3% from San Luis, 58.7% from La Pampa and 24% from Cordoba. Four of 88 (4.5%) serum samples from farm 1 had antibodies to T gondii and none of the negative pigs seroconverted. However, 45 of 112 samples from farm 2 were positive (40.2%) with the following distribution: sows 100%; nursery 40%; growers 13.8% and fatteners 20%. It is concluded that the prevalence of T. gondii antibodies among sows seems to be quite variable. T gondii prevalence was related to the facilities and management of the farm. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.