Abstract:
Thedetection of Toxoplasma gondii in free-range chickens is a good indicator of possible risk to human beings.Theaimof this study
was to investigate the occurrence of T. gondii in free-range chicken using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Brain samples from
105 free-range chickens fromthree administrative areas inThika region, Kenya, were collected, DNA-extracted, and analyzed using
PCR to detect presence of T. gondii.The overall prevalence of T. gondii in all the three areas was 79.0% (95% CI: 70.0–86.4%) and
the prevalence across the three areas was not significantly different (𝑃 = 0.5088; 𝜒
2
= 1.354). Female chickens had higher (79.4%)
prevalence than males (78.6%), although the difference was not significant (𝑃 = 0.922, 𝜒
2 = 0.01). However, chickens that were
more than 2 years old had significantly (𝑃 = 0.003; 𝜒
2 = 11.87) higher prevalence compared to younger ones.The study indicates
that there was a high occurrence of T. gondii infection in free-range chickens from Thika region and that the infection rate is age
dependent. Further studies should be carried out to determine the possible role of roaming chickens in the epidemiology of the
disease among humans in the area.
