Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii and Associated Risk Factors in Dairy Cows in Greece Menelaos Lefkaditis 1 , Zoi Athanasakopoulou 1 , Marina Sofia 1 , RustemMpairamoglou 2 and Charalambos Billinis 1,3 * 1 Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, Greece 2 Veterinary clinic, Prefecture of Xanthi, Greece 3 Faculty of Public and One Health, University of Thessaly, Greece Introduction Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the intracellular obligate apicomplexan protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (Sarcocystidae), which is distributed throughout the world [1-4]. It is mainly transmitted to the intermediate hosts through the ingestion of oocysts shed by infected cats (or other Felidae). Cats are the only definitive host of the parasite and the only species where the sexual part of T. gondii life cycle can be completed [1,5,6] resulting in the release of the oocysts into the environment through the cat’s feces [5]. Cats can discharge those oocysts in the environment for a short period of time, only about 3 weeks throughout their life. After 1 to 3 days in the environment, oocyst sporulate and have the ability to infect a large variety of warm-blooded intermediate hosts of this parasite, such as domestic and wild animals, livestock, small rodents, birds, and humans [5,7,8]. Cats (domestic and wild) present with significantly high prevalence of toxoplasmosis in some cities of countries neighboring to Greece; 66.2% in the city of Ankara, Turkey [9], 42.3% in Perugia, Italy [10], 62.3% in Tirana, Albania [11], 29.3% in Milan, Italy [12] and 34.2% in Izmir, Turkey [13]. Dairy cows become infected mainly through ingestion of feed or water contaminated with T. gondii sporulated oocysts [14,15]. Many experimental infections in cows used oocysts, as the means of infection demonstrating that cows are susceptible to infection by this life stage of the parasite [14-17]. Although cows are herbivores, infections could also happen through the accidental ingestion of tissue cysts from infected intermediate hosts such as small rodents via contaminated food. Finally, transplacental infection can also take place and lead to infected fetuses [5]. Crimson Publishers Wings to the Research Research Article *Corresponding author: Charalambos Billinis, Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, Greece Submission: October 27, 2022 Published: October 31, 2022 Volume 9 - Issue 2 How to cite this article: Menelaos Lefka- ditis, Zoi Athanasakopoulou, Marina Sofia, RustemMpairamoglou and Charalambos Billinis*. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii and Associated Risk Factors in Dairy Cows in Greece. Appro Poult Dairy & Vet Sci 9(2). APDV. 000710. 2022. DOI: 10.31031/APDV.2022.09.000710 Copyright@: Charalambos Billinis, This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. ISSN: 2576-9162 887 Approaches in Poultry, Dairy & Veterinary Sciences Abstract Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide protozoosis which can affect all warm blooded animals, birds and humans, while cats and other Felidae are the only definitive hosts of this parasite. Dairy cows become infected orally, through ingestion of feed or water contaminated with T. gondii sporulated oocysts, but also through accidental ingestion of tissue cysts from infected intermediate hosts. In cows the infection is usually asymptomatic or causes mild symptoms. Natural cases of clinical toxoplasmosis in cows are usually manifested only as abortions. This study included 428 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows from 8 small farms located in Northern Greece, which had previously reported reproductive problems. A blood sample was collected from each cow and examined by indirect immunofluorescence (IFAT) for toxoplasmosis. The results revealed an overall prevalence of 28 (6.54%) positive and 52 (12.15%) suspect cows for the parasitosis. Among positive and suspect cows 64.28% (18/28) and 30.76% (16/52), respectively, had previous records of reproductive problems. Some reproductive parameters, such as the average number of lactations per cow and the average days after birth that animals were removed from farms due to infertility were 1.75 and 55.1 in positive cows and 2.77 and 561.5, respectively, in suspect cows. This study suggests that toxoplasmosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in cow farms where reproductive problems occur in order to reduce the economic losses of farmers. It also highlights the zoonotic importance of this parasitosis as well as the need for better preventative measures. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; Dairy cattle; Zoonoses; Reproduction; Farm