Toxoplasmosis in Nomadic Communities: A Seroepidemiological Study in Southwestern Iran

Toxoplasma gondii is the agent of a zoonotic protozoan infection with worldwide distribution. The rates of infection in different areas are depending on climatic conditions and also social and cultural habits of the people. This cross-sectional study aimed to find out the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in nomadic people in Boyer-Ahmad County, in the southwest of Iran. Blood samples (5 mL) were collected from 1005 individuals of nomadic tribes of Boyer-Ahmad County in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province in 2016. A predesigned questionnaire, containing basic epidemiological information was filled out for each subject during the sampling. Sera were evaluated for anti-T. gondii antibodies (both IgG and IgM), using a commercial ELISA kit. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS, using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. Out of the 1005 studied subjects, 227 (22.6%) were male and 778 (77.4%) were female. The mean age of participants was 41 years (SD: ±17). The most represented (24.4%) age class was 21-30 years and the least (1.9%) 1-10 years. Anti-T. gondii antibodies were detected in 174 (17.3%) of the cases. No statistically significant associations were found between seropositivity to T. gondii and area of residence, age, gender and educational levels of the participants. Findings of this study show that the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among the nomads of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is alike to other communities in our country. Further study is required to elucidate the genotype of T. gondii in this community.