Prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in goats slaughtered in the public slaughterhouse of Patos city, Paraíba State, Northeast region of Brazil

The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies was investigated in goats slaughtered in the public slaughterhouse of Patos, State of Paraíba, Northeast region of Brazil, and possible associations between sex of the animals and antibody prevalence were verified. Three-hundred six blood samples from goats collected before slaughter by jugular venopuncture were used. For the serologic diagnosis of T. gondii and N. caninum, the indirect fluorescent-antibody test (IFAT) with cut-off values 64 and 50, respectively, was carried out. The prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies was 24.5% [95% CI = 19.8–29.7%] with titers ranging from 64 to 4096, and anti-N. caninum antibodies was 3.3% (95% CI = 1.6–5.9%) with titers ranging from 50 to 400. There were no associations between sex of animals and prevalence of anti-T. gondii and anti-N. caninum antibodies.