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.

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