Molecular and Serological Evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Reared Turkeys in Fars Province, Iran

Background: toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan toxoplasma gondii. this parasite infects most of warm-blooded animals, including birds. turkeys are one of these animals which might be infected by this parasite. little is known about the prevalence of t. gondii in turkeys in iran.objectives: the current study aimed to evaluate the rate of toxoplasma infection in turkeys in fars province, southern iran.materials and methods: sera and tissues (brain, neck and tongue) of 54 turkeys were collected from shiraz slaughterhouse in fars province. anti-toxoplasma antibodies were assessed in the collected sera using modified agglutination test (mat), while tissues were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and bioassay methods.results: t. gondii antibodies (mat titer: ? 1:40) were found in 89.8% of turkeys. t. gondii dna was detected in 61.6% of turkey tissues and brain had the highest rate of infection. brain tissues from each animal were bioassayed and toxoplasma tissue cysts were found in 11.5% and toxoplasma dna in 62% of inoculated mice.conclusions: results of this study validated a relatively high level of toxoplasma infection in reared turkeys and turkey meat might be considered as an infection sources for human.