Aim:Toxoplasma gondii is an ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite which causes toxoplasmosis in humans and animals. Felids especially cats are definitive hosts and almost all warm-blooded mammals, including livestock and human can serve as intermediate hosts. Food animals can be reservoirs for T. gondii and act as one of the sources for parasite transmission to humans. The objective of this study is to collect serological data on the prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody, and risk factors for certain food animals from Africa to provide a quantitative estimate of T. gondii infection among these species from different African countries.Materials and Methods:Four databases were used to search seroepidemiological data on the prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody in food animals between 1969 and 2016 from African countries. The search focused on data obtained by serologic test in food animals and meta-analyses were performed per species.Results:A total of 30,742 individual samples from 24 countries, described in 68 articles were studied. The overall estimated prevalence for toxoplasmosis in chicken, camel, cattle, sheep, goat, pig were 37.4% (29.2-46.0%), 36% (18-56%), 12% (8-17%), 26.1% (17.0-37.0%), 22.9% (12.3-36.0%), and 26.0% (20-32.0%), respectively. Moreover, major risk factor of infection was age, farming system, and farm location.Conclusions:A significant variation in the seroepidemiological data was observed within each species and country. The results can aid in an updated epidemiological analysis but also can be used as an important input in quantitative microbial risk assessment models. Further studies are required for a better and continual evaluation of the occurrence of this zoonotic infection.

The chemical composition of essential oils obtained from the leaves of Cymbopogon giganteus Chiov. and Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng, two Poaceae growing wild in Benin were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The main constituents of Cymbopogon giganteus were cis-p-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-ol (19.4%), transp-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol (16.4%) and limonene (13.7%). The major components identified in the oil of Cymbopogon schoenanthus were piperitone (68.4%), and δ-2-carene (11.5%). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Cymbopogon giganteus was found to be moderate on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with MIC equal to 0.32 ± 0.02 mg/mL and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 with MIC equal to 0.64 ± 0.34 mg/mL. This same oil induced the death of 57.84% of ticks at 8µL. Therefore, essential oil of Cymbopogon schoenanthus had a low antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with MIC equal to 2.63 ± 0.16 mg/mL and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 with MIC equal to 2.63 ± 0.16 mg/mL.

Through international trades, Europe, Africa and South America share a long history of exchanges, potentially of pathogens. We used the worldwide parasite Toxoplasma gondii to test the hypothesis of a historical influence on pathogen genetic diversity in Benin, a West African country with a longstanding sea trade history. In Africa, T. gondii spatial structure is still non-uniformly studied and very few articles have reported strain genetic diversity in fauna and clinical forms of human toxoplasmosis so far, even in African diaspora. Sera from 758 domestic animals (mainly poultry) in two coastal areas (Cotonou and Ouidah) and two inland areas (Parakou and Natitingou) were tested for T. gondii antibodies using a Modified Agglutination Test (MAT). The hearts and brains of 69 seropositive animals were collected for parasite isolation in a mouse bioassay. Forty-five strains were obtained and 39 genotypes could be described via 15-microsatellite genotyping, with a predominance of the autochthonous African lineage Africa 1 (36/39). The remaining genotypes were Africa 4 variant TUB2 (1/39) and two identical isolates (clone) of Type III (2/39). No difference in terms of genotype distribution between inland and coastal sampling sites was found. In particular, contrarily to what has been described in Senegal, no type II (mostly present in Europe) was isolated in poultry from coastal cities. This result seems to refute a possible role of European maritime trade in Benin despite it was one of the most important hubs during the slave trade period. However, the presence of the Africa 1 genotype in Brazil, predominant in Benin, and genetic analyses suggest that the triangular trade was a route for the intercontinental dissemination of genetic strains from Africa to South America. This supports the possibility of contamination in humans and animals with potentially imported virulent strains.

No abstract

After the introduction of the invasive cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus in West Africa in the last decade, farmers encounter ticks resistance to the use of acaricides in different region in Benin. In order to evaluate the level of resistance, an in vitro study was performed on five samples of R. (Boophilus) microplus collected from five farms in four of the eight agro-ecological zone of Benin. The districts concerned with the study in the agro-ecological zone were Houeyogbe (Kpinnou), Zangnanado (Samiondji), Tchaourou (Okpara), Gogounou (Fana) and Bassila (Manigri). A toxicological test, the Larval Packet Test (LPT) was performed in the laboratory of Biotechnology Research Unit of the Animal Production and Health (URBPSA) at the Polytechnic School of University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin with the susceptible, Rhipicephalus geigyi strain from Hounde in Burkina Faso. Three (3) acaricides commonly used by farmers in Benin to control ticks were evaluated: alpha-cypermethrin, deltamethrin and amitraz. The results showed that the resistance ratio at 50% (RR 50 95% CI) for the whole experiment varies from 1.96 to 338.5. Based on RR 50 and RR 90 values, only the population of Samiondji's state farm was susceptible to the alpha-cypermethrin with a resistance ratio RR 50 = 1.64 (95% CI: 0.2 to 12.6), all the other resistance tests conducted on moderate or high resistance Bassila and Kpinnou appear to host the most resistant samples. Moreover, a certain high variability of dose response relationship has been noticed with amitraz on the base of the higher slope of the related curves.