Halat M. Toxoplasmosis of Animals (Spreading, Diagnostics, Measures of Control)

New data regarding spreading of Toxoplasma gondii in animals in Ukraine have been obtained. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were identified in productive animals and pets, among them cattle (10.3 % of investigated animals), sheep (38.5 %), goats (41.3 %), pigs (18.4 %), dogs (46.3 %), cats (44.4 %), poultry (10.7 %) and wild boars (6.8 %). There appears to be no significant difference in the prevalence of the Toxoplasma gondii in animals of different sexes. However, it was found that prevalence of the Toxoplasma gondii increased with age in the animals. Amongst the cats which were part of this study, Toxoplasma gondii was found in 29 % of the cats who were aged up to 2 years. 56.7 % of the cats who were older than 10 years obtained the disease. It is revealed that seroprevalence also varies in animals depending on the region of the country for a particular species of animals. Thus, amongst domestic pigs, this indicator ranged from 1.8 % (Cherkasy and Lviv regions) to 50 % (Khmelnytsky region). For the diagnostics of animal`s toxoplasmosis, the effectiveness of various test kits and methods was determined and a comparative analysis was performed. High levels of sensitivity and specificity of the VectoToxo-antibodies test kit for the diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep, goats and cats were established, «ID Screen» Toxoplasmosis Indirect Multi-species and IDEXX Toxotest Ab Test for sheep and goats, agglutination method using Toxo-Screen DA for cats, as well as the modified agglutination method in dilution 1:6 for pigs, and in dilution 1:24 – for sheep and goats. For life-long diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, fundamentally new methods and algorithms for their implementation have been proposed: immunochemical diagnostics using an immune biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance and photoluminescence using zinc oxide nanostructures. New data regarding identification of Toxoplasma gondii in samples of milk from seropositive goats, muscles of sheep and drinking water have been obtained. For the treatment of goats in the case of toxoplasmosis, solutions of nanoaquachelates of Germanium, Magnesium, Cuprum and Argentum were proposed and their efficacy was determined. In the acute course of cat's toxoplasmosis, quinosan is proposed.