Oral and Poster Abstracts

Infection of ewes by Toxoplasma gondii has serious consequences
for sheep production, inducing abortion if the infection is acquired
before 50 days of gestation, or fetal loss between 70 and 90 days.
Herbivores could be used as sentinels of environmental
contamination by T. gondii oocysts. Colima, a warm and humid state
in the west of Mexico, presents favorable climatic conditions for
transmission of this parasite and harbors both domestic and wild
cats, capable of dispersing T. gondii. The aim of this study was to
determine the frequency of specific antibodies in sheep from the
coastal regions (South), mountains (Center and North) and Pacific
Island of Socorro where the feline is domestic but feral. Serum
samples from 420 sheep were tested by a previously standardized
indirect ELISA. The frequency of infection was estimated and the
area of origin, the age and the sex were analyzed as risk factors of
toxoplasmosis by means of Odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval).
Statistical significance was tested by Chi-square or Fisher’s exact
tests. Comparison of absorbance values among groups was
performed by one-way-ANOVA. The global frequency of anti-T.
gondii antibodies was 26.9%. The highest levels were found in the
coastal zone (34.3%), and the lowest on the island (15.9%), with
older animals found to be more frequently positive and with higher
absorbance values; all these results presented statistical significance
(P