is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis in humans and various animal species worldwide. In Thailand, seroprevalence studies on have focused on domestic animals, and information on infections in Asian elephants () is scarce. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of infection in archival sera collected from 268 elephants living in Thailand. The serum samples were analyzed for anti- immunoglobulin G antibodies using the latex agglutination test (LAT) and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) based on lysate antigen (TLA-iELISA) and recombinant dense granular antigen 8 protein (TgGRA8-iELISA). The prevalence of antibodies against was 45.1% (121/268), 40.7% (109/268), and 44.4% ... More
is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis in humans and various animal species worldwide. In Thailand, seroprevalence studies on have focused on domestic animals, and information on infections in Asian elephants () is scarce. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of infection in archival sera collected from 268 elephants living in Thailand. The serum samples were analyzed for anti- immunoglobulin G antibodies using the latex agglutination test (LAT) and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) based on lysate antigen (TLA-iELISA) and recombinant dense granular antigen 8 protein (TgGRA8-iELISA). The prevalence of antibodies against was 45.1% (121/268), 40.7% (109/268), and 44.4% (119/268) using LAT, TLA-iELISA, and TgGRA8-iELISA, respectively. Young elephants had a higher seropositivity rate than elephants aged >40 years (odds ratio = 6.6; < 0.001; 95% confidence interval: 2.9-15.4). When LAT was used as the reference, TLA-iELISA and TgGRA8-iELISA showed a substantial (κ = 0.69) and moderate (κ = 0.42) agreement, respectively. Although our findings suggest the widespread exposure of Asian elephants to in Thailand, the source of infection was not investigated. Therefore, investigation of the predisposing factors associated with toxoplasmosis is necessary to identify the potential risk factors for infection.