The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in pigs in Ghana

A serological survey of toxoplasmosis in pigs in Ghana was carried out between October 1997 and April 1998 in the three ecological zones of Ghana: the Coastal Savannah, the Forest Belt and the Guinea Savannah. Antibody against Toxoplasma gondii was measured in pig serum using a microplate-ELISA which had a sensitivity and specificity of 90.2 and 92.3%, respectively when compared with IFAT. A national seroprevalence of 39% was obtained in pigs, with the ecological distribution being 43.9, 30.5 and 42.5% for the Coastal Savannah, the Forest Belt and the Guinea Savannah, respectively. The age of the animal, the breed, the environmental conditions and the management practices appeared to be the major determinants of prevalence of antibodies against T. gondii. The prevalence of anti-T: gondii antibodies was found to increase with age (P < 0.05). Pigs from the two Savannah zones had a significantly higher (P < 0.05) antibody prevalence than those sampled from the Forest belt. Antibody prevalence (46.8%) in crossbreed pigs was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the exotic Large White breed (38.8%). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.