Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Rabbits of Korea by Serological Tests and Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction

This study surveyed the Toxoplasma (T.) gondii infection prevalence in the Korean rabbit population. Rabbits (n=142) were obtained from two breeding farms in the Gongju area, Chungnam Province, and in the Kochang area, Junbuk Province, Korea. Of 142 sera samples analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 15 (10.6%) exhibited T. gondii-specific IgG antibodies, and 1 (0.7%) rabbit harbored T. gondii-specific IgM. Female rabbits (9/84; 10.7%) had a similar T. gondii prevalence to males (6/58; 10.3%). When stratified by age, rabbits aged >1 year had a similar prevalence of T. gondii infection (7/66; 10.6%) to rabbits aged 1 year had a similar prevalence (12/66; 18.2%) of T. gondii infection to rabbits aged