Full length articleKinetic and avidity of IgY anti-Toxocara antibodies in experimentally infected chickens

- ELISA for detection of anti-Toxocara IgY and avidity in infected chickens.
- Experimental infection of chickens with 100, 1000 and 5000 embryonated T. canis eggs.
- High levels of IgY and high avidity index in the chronic phase of infection.
- Influence of infective dose on the humoral immune response.
- ELISA is a useful tool for seroprevalence studies in poultry.

Toxocariasis is a geohelminth zoonosis with worldwide distribution, mainly transmitted through the ingestion of embryonated eggs of nematodes of the Toxocara genus. The disease can also be transmitted to humans as a result of eating raw or undercooked meat of paratenic hosts, such as chickens. Here, we standardized an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for evaluating experimentally the kinetic and avidity index (AI) of IgY in broiler chickens infected with different doses of Toxocara canis eggs (G1:100; G2: 1000; and G3: 5000; n = 12 per group). The test showed 91.7% sensitivity (CI 95%: 77.5-98.3) and 100% specificity (CI 95%: 92.6-100), and highest efficiency (97.0%) at 60 days post infection. Infection was characterized by the presence of high avidity antibodies in the chronic phase. Our results support that the ELISA can be a highly useful tool for the detection of anti-Toxocara antibodies in chickens.