Seroprevalence of toxoplasma gondii and its associated risk factors in cats in Lusaka district, Zambia.

Thesis of Masters in Veterinary Medicine.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii. It is of public health importance because of the economic loss caused in food animals and the severe disease it causes in fetuses through their pregnant mother and immune-compromised individuals. Despite this fact, there are still very few studies that have been done for T. gondii here in Zambia. This study was a cross section study carried out from February 2018 to September 2019 in different veterinary facilities as well as from stray cats trapped using cages in the surrounding areas. A questionnaire was also used to retrieve information from domestic cat owners in order to identify the potential risk factors of T. gondii. 178 sera samples were analyzed for Immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti bodies using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit for In vitro Diagnosis vet screen Toxoplasmosis multi-species Indirect kit (France). Results from the study on Toxoplasmosis infection in both domestic and stray cats were analyzed using Chi-square and binary logistic regression. The overall prevalence was calculated to be 16.85% while the seroprevalence of domestic cats was found to be 20.4% and that of stray cats was found to be 13.3%. It was established that sex and diet were both significantly associated with Seropositivity with IgG antibodies and these were considered as risk factors. When the stray and domestic cats were compared, there was a significant difference between the two groups. It was established that older cats were more likely to get T. gondii infection than younger cats. There was no significant association between the owners’ awareness of the T. gondii and Seropositivity of their cat. There is need to have awareness campaigns to educate cat owners on hygiene practices when handling cat excreta as well as the need to confine cats and avoid them from straying.