Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in wild white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) from Peru.

ABSTRACT

In the Peruvian Amazon, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) is a desirable game species and is important for the local rural economy. Blood samples from 101 white-lipped peccaries from Peru were collected from 3 different conservation areas located in the municipalities of Manu and Tambopata, southeastern region of the Peruvian Amazon. Antibodies were assayed using the modified agglutination test (MAT, cut of value of 25). Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were found in 89.1% (90 of 101) of animals, with titers of 1 ∶ 25 in 9, 1 ∶ 50 in 25, 1 ∶ 100 in 20, 1 ∶ 200 in 14, 1 ∶ 400 in 12, 1 ∶ 800 in 9, and 1 ∶ 3,200 in 1; 87.7% and 89.2% of males and females, respectively, tested positively, and no association (P ≥ 0.05) with gender and occurrence of antibodies was observed.