seroprevalence and risk factors of toxoplasma gondii infection in buffaloes, sheep and goats in yunnan province, southwestern china

background: the seroprevalence of toxoplasma gondii infection in buffaloes, sheep and goats in yunnan province, southwestern china was conducted between may 2012 and december 2013. methods: a total of 973 (427 buffaloes, 154 sheep and 392 goats) serum samples were collected from seven administrative regions of yunnan province, and exam­ined for t. gondii antibodies by indirect hemagglutination (iha) test. some risk fac­tors related to species, age, gender and geographical origin were determined using a multinomial logistic regression. results: the overall seroprevalence of t. gondii in ruminant species was estimated at 11.9%. the final logistic regression model demonstrated that host species and geographical origin were the main risk factors associated with t. gondii infection ( p ﹤0.05). conclusion: taken together, the results of the present study revealed a high expo­sure to t. gondii in ruminant species in yunnan province, which has an important implication for public health.