Seroprevalence and Epidemiology of in Animals in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area, China.

belongs to the Apicomplexan protozoa-an obligate intracellular parasite-causing toxoplasmosis that has a worldwide distribution and is very harmful to both human health and the livestock industry. However, the information on toxoplasmosis in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area (QTPA) and the seroprevalence of in the food-borne animals in that area has been limited. Therefore, this study focused to and toxoplasmosis to perform an indirect ELISA test based on recombinant SAG2 protein to establish a comprehensive record of the seroprevalence of infections in a wide range of animals, including Tibetan sheep (), yaks (), cows, chicken, pigs, and horses, in the QTPA. Overall, the seropositive rates of the specific- IgG and IgM antibodies in all investigated animals were 44.1% (1179/2673) and 18.0% (469/2612), respectively. The 14.9% (389/2612) sera were determined to be both IgG and IgM positive samples, 30.2% (789/2673) were single-IgG seropositive, and a total of 80 in 2612 animals (3.0%) were single-IgM seropositive. Moreover, for the animal species, the pig was the most prevalent animal (90.2%, 304/337) for IgG positivity, followed by Tibetan sheep (50.7%, 460/907), chickens (45.8%, 229/500), yaks (21.1%, 140/663), cows (18.5%, 38/205) and horses (13.1%, 8/61), respectively. For the IgM antibody positivity, the pig was also the most prevalent animal (41.8%, 141/337), followed by Tibetan sheep (21.2%, 191/907), cows (15.1%, 31/205), chickens (12.4%, 62/500) and yaks (6.6%, 44/663), respectively. The significant differences in the prevalent distribution of were found in the different altitudes. In conclusion, this study found the high seroprevalence for infections among these animal species in the QTPA, and provides new data to facilitate further research for development of control measures against infections in the surveyed locations.