Toxoplasma gondii infection among sheep and goats in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis, a cosmopolitan parasitic infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is frequently found in meat-producing animals and human beings. This review and meta-analysis study was performed to evaluate the overall prevalence of T. gondii infection among sheep and goats in Iran. Data were systematically collected from 1977 to 2012 in Iran on the following electronic databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Magiran, Irandoc, IranMedex, and Scientific Information Database (SID). Additionally, abstracts of national scientific congresses and dissertations were included. A total of 34 articles in field of sheep and 18 articles about goat toxoplasmosis, totalizing to the examination of 14,372 sheep and 3,120 goats, reporting prevalence of toxoplasmosis from different regions of Iran fulfilled our eligibility criteria. The overall prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis in Iran was estimated to be 31% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.259825 to 0.352382) in sheep and 27% (95% CI = 0.140097 to 0.424782) in goats, respectively. There was no significant difference in infection rate between males and females among sheep (odds ratio (OR) = 1.002, 95% CI = 0.59 to 1.696) and goats (OR = 1.027, 95% CI = 0.685 to 1.541). Analysis revealed that infection rate in sheep over than 1 year old was 2.4 times more than that in less than 1 year old (OR = 2.396, 95% CI = 1.050 to 5.467). This systematic review and meta-analysis study revealed that infection is widespread in Iran. Further studies are required to improve strategies for controlling infection among flocks and consequently in human population.

Toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in Iranian women and risk factors of the disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The right climate status in the northern part provides a suitable condition for oocyst sporulation and survival in the environment. In mild and wet climates, the maturation of oocysts and transmission to a new host happens [9, 25]. Additional file 3: Figure S1 shows the prevalence of total Toxoplasma antibodies in both girls and pregnant women in all parts of Iran.…”

A long-lasting protective immunity against chronic toxoplasmosis in mice induced by recombinant rhoptry proteins encapsulated in poly (lactide-co-glycolide) microparticles

“…As one of the most successful pathogens, Toxoplasma gondii can infect virtually all warm-blooded animals including human beings, with a worldwide distribution (Dubey 2010;Robert-Gangneux and Darde 2012;Tolba et al 2014;Gjerde and Josefsen 2015;Sharif et al 2015). T. gondii infection in pregnant women could cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or some other newborn diseases such as ocular diseases, intracranial calcifications, and hydrocephaly (Montoya and Liesenfeld 2004;Dubey 2010).…”

Herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus in commercial dairy and beef cattle in eastern, northern and northeastern China

“…It is estimated that T. gondii infects up to one third of the human population in the world (Weiss and Dubey 2009). Although commonly subclinical, toxoplasmosis is serious or even lethal in a lot of hosts and the impacts of infection are various, including mental deficiency, ablepsia, abortion or congenital birth defects (Weiss and Dubey 2009;Dubey 2010;Sharif et al 2015). N. caninum is a main abortifacient agent in cattle and is one of the most efficiently transmitted parasites of cattle with up to 90 % of cattle in some herds infected, which makes N. caninum infection the most prevalent cause of abortion in cattle in many countries (Dubey 2003;Varcasia et al 2006;Dubey and Schares 2011;Chryssafidis et al 2015).…”