Resumen

RUIZ, ANA ISELA; CHINCHILLA, MISAEL  y  GUERRERO, OLGA. PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF DOMESTIC CHICKENS AFTER ORAL INOCULATION WITH DIFFERENT CONCENTRATION OF Toxoplasma gondii OOCYSTS. Parasitol. latinoam. [online]. 2005, vol.60, n.1-2, pp. 43-47. ISSN 0717-7712.  doi: 10.4067/S0717-77122005000100006.

Five days old chicken (Gallus domesticus) were infected per os with 10¹, 10³ or 10⁵ Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. The infection development was monitored studying symptoms, survival time and antibody presence in these chickens. Severe diarrhea, anorexia and weight loss were present before death that start 5 days after infection. Survival time was lower in those animals infected with a higher oocyst number. Small intestine, liver and lung presented more intense pathology and antibody production started 10 days after infection, increased after 20 days and then declined. The importance of these findings relating to the role of chickens in the transmission of T. gondii, is discussed

Palabras clave : Toxoplasma gondii; chicken; epidemiology; Costa Rica.