Diagnostic study of toxoplasmosis in domestic chickens in Sulaimani province

Toxoplasma gondii causes toxoplasmosis in human and animals, a disease of cosmopolitan character. A total of 65 serum samples of domestic chickens (Gallus domesticus) from Sulaimani region were collected from May till August 2012.The overall seropositivity against T. gondii antibody was 60% based on the Latex agglutination test (LAT). The positive agglutination titers were ranged between 1:2 -1:128, and the highest seropositive rate observed at a titer 1: 128 was 25.64% . The present study demonstrated that anti Toxoplasma antibodies were high in chickens in this study.In histopathological examination of brain samples, tissue cysts were observed in 7 samples 33.33%. About the Giemsa stained impression tissue smears of liver, kidney and spleen of all seropositive chickens tissue cysts also observed at the rate of 38.46%, 20.51% and 12.82% respectively, the results indicate that T. gondii localized in the liver more often than in other tissues of naturally infected chickens.This is the first report of T. gondii infection in domestic chickens in Sulaimani province.