Background: Toxoplasma gondii infections in captive non-human primates are of interest because often they die due to severe toxoplasmosis. Thus, we aimed to evaluate samples from a serum bank to T. gondii antibodies.
Methods: Serum samples of 179 monkeys from the National Center of Primates, Brazil, were retrospective analyzed for T. gondii IgG antibodies by modified agglutination test using formalin-fixed whole parasites as antigen (cutoff 1:25).
Results: Among the 179 samples tested, 88 (49.2%) were positive. Twelve of the 18 evaluated species presented at least one positive animal. A higher occurrence of positive animals was found in New World (52.2%) than Old World (22.2%) monkeys (P = .023) and in the animals from domestic donation origin, which had lived in human homes as pets (P = .004).
Conclusions: We confirm the widespread presence of T. gondii in captive monkeys and contribute to the range of species that can be infected by this parasite.
Keywords: modified agglutination test; monkeys; risk factor.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.