Quantifying the Risk of Human Toxoplasma gondii Infection Due to Consumption of Domestically Produced Lamb in the United States

Guo, Miao; Mishra, Abhinav; Buchanan, Robert L.; Hill, Dolores E.; Gamble, H. Ray; Pradhan, Abani K.

doi:10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-15-591

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Humans become infected postnatally, mainly by ingesting tissue cysts from undercooked meat or from food or drink contaminated with oocysts shed in cat feces [22, 34]. Ingestion of poorly cooked meat from sheep, and possibly consumption of non-pasteurized contaminated milk from sheep are considered important sources of transmission of T. gondii to humans [4, 7, 18, 21, 27]. People in Henan province have the habit of eating undercooked “barbecue”, “kabob”, and “instantly boiled mutton”, leading to an increased risk of human toxoplasmosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seroprevalence ofToxoplasma gondiiinfection and risk factors in domestic sheep in Henan province, central China

Zhang¹,

Wang²,

Wang³

et al. 2016

Parasite

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Sheep are highly susceptible to infections with Toxoplasma gondii and play a major role in the transmission of toxoplasmosis to humans. In the present study, 779 serum samples from sheep were collected from Henan province, central China from March 2015 to May 2016, and antibodies to T. gondii were detected by modified agglutination test (MAT). The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii in sheep was 12.71% (99/779). The risk factors significantly associated with T. gondii seroprevalence were the geographical origin, age, presence of cats, and the rearing system. This is the first report of T. gondii infection in sheep in Henan province, central China, and of an association of seropositivity to T. gondii with risk factors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seroprevalence ofToxoplasma gondiiinfection and risk factors in domestic sheep in Henan province, central China

Zhang¹,

Wang²,

Wang³

et al. 2016

Parasite

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“…(17) With respect to the results of sensitivity analysis, the cooking temperature is confirmed to be the variable that mostly impacts the outcome, as reported by previous QMRAs. (16,17,20) Based on the predictive model, temperature of 61°C is able to kill all bradyzoites (irrespective of the concentration) and at least 78.2% of the simulated portions are expected to be treated at this temperature or even above. After the home cooking process, considering the adopted temperature distribution, 88% of the simulated portions of fresh meat derived from infected swine did not contain viable T. gondii.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For each food product, the number of bradyzoites per contaminated portion was estimated by multiplying the expected amount of raw muscle in a portion with the concentration of bradyzoites (log per 100 g) contained in an infected pig given by a lognormal distribution (μ = 11.67, σ = 97.31), truncated to (0.04, 41.3) bradyzoites/g. (20) Due to the lack of data, we assumed a homogeneous distribution and identical concentration of bradyzoites within the pork carcass; therefore, any differences in bradyzoites' concentration between the various pork cuts were not included in our simulation. However, before consumption, meat products may withstand some treatments that are able to reduce the concentration of T. gondii: (i) curing/salting (during the manufacturing of salted/cured products), (ii) freezing, and (iii) domestic cooking (regarding only fresh meat and meat preparations).…”

Section: Number Of Bradyzoites Per Contaminated Portionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Assessment of Human Toxoplasmosis Associated with the Consumption of Pork Meat in Italy

Condoleo

Rinaldi

Sette³

et al. 2017

Risk Analysis

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Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan disease and has a broad range of hosts, including humans and several wild and domestic animals. The human infection is mostly acquired through the consumption of contaminated food and pork meat has been recognized as one of the major sources of transmission. There are, however, certain fundamental differences between countries; therefore, the present study specifically aims to evaluate the exposure of the Italian population to Toxoplasma gondii through the ingestion of several types of pork meat products habitually consumed in Italy and to estimate the annual number of human infections within two subgroups of the population. A quantitative risk assessment model was built for this reason and was enriched with new elements in comparison to other similar risk assessments in order to enhance its accuracy. Sensitivity analysis and two alternative scenarios were implemented to identify the factors that have the highest impact on risk and to simulate different plausible conditions, respectively. The estimated overall average number of new infections per year among adults is 12,513 and 92 for pregnant women. The baseline model showed that almost all these infections are associated with the consumption of fresh meat cuts and preparations (mean risk of infection varied between 4.5 × 10 −5 and 5.5 × 10 −5 ) and only a small percentage is due to fermented sausages/salami. On the contrary, salt-cured meat products seem to pose minor risk but further investigations are needed to clarify still unclear aspects. Among all the considered variables, cooking temperature and bradyzoites' concentration in muscle impacted most the risk.

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“…14 A new microbial risk assessment focused on consumption of lamb in the United States suggested an increased risk for contracting T. gondii from eating Australian product, compared with American-sourced meat, due to open pasture farming. 15 However, there have been no studies of T. gondii contamination of sheep meat products in Australia for more than 30 years. To begin to address this gap in health knowledge, we tested lamb mincemeat purchased at the supermarket counter in South Australia over a period of six months for T. gondii.…”

Section: Lamb As a Potential Source Of Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Fomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 However, there have been no studies of T. gondii contamination of sheep meat products in Australia for more than 30 years. 14 A new microbial risk assessment focused on consumption of lamb in the United States suggested an increased risk for contracting T. gondii from eating Australian product, compared with American-sourced meat, due to open pasture farming.…”

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confidence: 99%

Lamb as a potential source of Toxoplasma gondii infection for Australians

Dawson

Ashander

Appukuttan

et al. 2020

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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Objective: Toxoplasmosis may follow consumption of undercooked meat containing Toxoplasma gondii cysts. Lamb is considered to pose the highest risk for contamination across meats. Red meat is often served undercooked, yet there are no current data on T. gondii contamination of Australian sourced and retailed lamb. We sought to address this gap in public health knowledge.Methods: Lamb mincemeat was purchased at the supermarket counter three times weekly for six months. T. gondii was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA extracted from the meat following homogenisation. Purchases were also tested for common foodborne bacterial pathogens.Results: Conservative interpretation of PCR testing (i.e. parasite DNA detected in three of four tests) gave a probability of 43% (95% confidence interval, 32%-54%) that lamb mincemeat was contaminated with T. gondii. None of the purchases were contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella species or S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, indicating sanitary meat processing.Conclusions: Australian lamb is commonly contaminated with T. gondii. Future studies should be directed at testing a range of red meats and meat cuts.Implications for public health: Consuming undercooked Australian lamb has potential to result in toxoplasmosis. There may be value in health education around this risk.

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Quantifying the Risk of Human Toxoplasma gondii Infection Due to Consumption of Domestically Produced Lamb in the United States

Cited by 18 publications

References 23 publications

Seroprevalence ofToxoplasma gondiiinfection and risk factors in domestic sheep in Henan province, central China

Seroprevalence ofToxoplasma gondiiinfection and risk factors in domestic sheep in Henan province, central China

Risk Assessment of Human Toxoplasmosis Associated with the Consumption of Pork Meat in Italy

Lamb as a potential source of Toxoplasma gondii infection for Australians

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