الفهرس 
Review of literature
Protozoan parasites affecting ruminant animalsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Toxoplasmosis and neosporosis are considered among of the most important diseases affecting ruminants worldwide, resulting in huge economic losses besides their zoonotic potential. The infection is transmitted mainly via ingestion of contaminated feed or water with the oocysts of T. gondii or N. caninum. The most common clinical sign of the two pathogens is abortion at any stage of gestation. Acute toxoplasmosis is characterized by fever and loss of appetite that last for approximately one week up to 10 days post infection. Neosporosis can result in abortion, stillbirth, mummified or resorbed fetus or birth of clinically normal persistently infected calves.
The present was carried out to update the data about the current situation and seroprevalence of these pathogens at Sohag governorate and analysis of the risk factors associated with the infection including age, sex, pregnancy status, history of abortion, fever, poor body condition score, anorexia, diarrhea, and presence of external parasites.
In this respect, a total blood samples of 411 animals were collected from small and large ruminants (106 cattle, 29 buffaloes, 139 sheep, and 137 goats) from different 11 villages in Sohag governorate and tested against the presence of T. gondii and N. caninum by Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), respectively.
The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii in all species was 197/411 (47.93%). The highest seroprevalence rate was recorded in cattle 63/106 (59.43%) followed by buffalo 17/29 (58.62%) then goats 63/137 (45.99%) and the lowest seroprevalence was observed in sheep 54/139 (48.85%). For N. caninum, the total seroprevalence in the four species was 40/411 (9.73%). The highest seroprevalence was detected in buffalo 10/29 (34.48%) followed by cattle 14/106 (13.21%), then sheep 12/139 (8.63%) and finally the lowest rate was recorded in goats 4/137 (2.92%).
There were species differences in the frequency of positivity among studied pathogens. For T. gondii, old age, gender, anorexia, cachexia, and normal body temperature were found to be significant risk factors. While, for N. caninum, age, gender, the history of previous abortion, and presence of external parasites, particularly ticks, were significant. The present study concluded relatively high seroprevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum and provided baseline information about the occurrence of those pathogens in upper Egypt, suggesting further future studies to explore about the resulting diseases in this area.