Detection of Antibody Titer Against Toxoplasma gondii in Aborted Sows and Gilts in a Swine Herd in Thailand

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the sero-prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) among aborted sows and gilts in a commercial swine herd in Thailand. Data were collected from a swine breeding herd in Thailand between January and November 2008. Abortion rate was increased from 2.2% in January-June 2008 to 9.3% in July-October 2008.Among 132 aborted sows and gilts observed between July to October 2008, the average abortion date was 50.4 days gestation. During abortion, chlortetracycline 600-800 ppm was medicated in sow feed in September for 4 weeks (600 ppm for 2 weeks and 800 ppm for 2 weeks). In October, sulfa-trimetroprim 500 ppm was added to the feed. The number of aborted sows was dramatically reduced in November. Reproductive performance of sows greatly declined after the abortion epidemic. For instance, from March to October, the farrowing rate decreased from 86.7% to 65.6%, the number of piglets born alive per litter decreased from 10.4 to 8.6 piglets/litter and the percentage of mummified fetuses increased from 3.3% to 9.3%. Blood samples were randomly collected from aborted gilts and sows in September and October and these were analyzed for antibody titer for Swine Fever, Aujezkey’s Disease, Porcine Parvovirus infection, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), Leptospirosis and Toxoplasmosis. T. gondii infection was analyzed using latex agglutination test. Antibody against Swine Fever among aborted sows varied from 1:16 to 1:32. All of the aborted females were negative for Aujezkey’s Disease. Antibody titer against Porcine Parvovirus varied from 1:64 to >1:4096. Two out of three aborted sows were sero-negative for PRRS. Of the aborted gilts and sows, 12 out of 13 tested sows (92.3%) were T. gondii sero-positive with a titer between 1:64 and 1:128.