Immunological, Histopathological, Molecular Identification and Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in Small Ruminants in Egypt.

<b>Background and Objective:</b> Toxoplasmosis is an infective zoonotic disease caused by protozoan <i>Toxoplasma gondii </i>(<i>T. gondii</i>).<i> </i>Molecular identification of <i>T. gondii</i> followed by studying the hereditary variety range of <i>T. gondii </i>isolates in Egypt was investigated. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Blood samples were acquired from 138 live ewes and 212 she-goats from 5 governorates of Egypt, also the blood and its related tissue samples (uterus, diaphragm, heart and thigh muscles from each animal) were collected from slaughtered 180 ewes and 206 she-goats from Cairo and Giza abattoirs. <b>Results:</b> Using ELISA, the total seropositivity of live ewes and she-goats was 26.8 and 21.2%, respectively, while it was 16.6 and 33% in slaughtered ewes and she-goats, respectively. <i>T. gondii</i> tissue cysts with the associated characteristic histopathological changes were detected in different organs. Twenty-eight <i>T. gondii</i> isolates were confirmed using PCR, while among 24 milk samples from seropositive live ewes and she-goats, only 12.5 and 6.25%, were positive using PCR, respectively. Genotyping using multiple nested PCR (n-PCR) combined with restriction enzyme analysis (RFLP) of the surface antigen 2 (SAG2) gene confirmed 26 isolates (92.8%) as type II and 2 (7.1%) as type III. <b>Conclusion:</b> Type II and III are the most common <i>T. gondii</i> genotypes in Egyptian small ruminants with additional importance for public health in Egypt. Further studies are needed on the role of milk in the transmission of toxoplasmosis.