Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, and Sarcocystis Species DNA in the Heart and Breast Muscles of Rock Pigeons (Columbia livia)

Table 1

Prevalence of apicomplexan parasites in heart and breast muscles of rock pigeons.

Parasite	Samples	Sex	Number of samples; ()	Positive samples; ()	Sex-wise prevalence	Organ-wise prevalence	Overall prevalence
T. gondii	Breast positivity rate	Male	30	7	23.3%	35.1%	35.1%
		Female	24	12	50%
	Heart positivity rate	Male	23	5	21.7%	28.8%
		Female	22	8	36.4%
	Heart & breast positivity rate	Male	23	5	21.7%	28.8%
		Female	22	8	36.4%
N. caninum	Breast positivity rate	Male	30	2	6.6%	7.4%	9.2%
		Female	24	2	8.3%
	Heart positivity rate	Male	23	2	8.6%	6.6%
		Female	22	1	4.5%
	Heart & breast positivity rate	Male	23	2	8.6	11.1%
		Female	22	3	13.6