Toxoplasma gondii infection in meat-producing small ruminants: Meat juice serology and genotyping

Abstract

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A 2-Year Longitudinal Seroepidemiological Evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii Antibodies in a Cohort of Autochthonous Sheep from Central Portugal

“…A later study (2013) also in the northern region of the territory showed that 33.6% of the sampled sheep were positive for IgG anti-T. gondii, also by MAT. These studies seem to be in agreement with those published in other Mediterranean countries showing IgG seroprevalences in 40.1% of ruminants in Cyprus [11], 46.5% of sheep in southern Spain [3], and 28.6% of sheep in Italy [12].…”

“…From the screening of the 2015 and 2016 sera, an increase of seroprevalence was observed (57.7% (95% CI: 49.9-65.3%) versus 69.1% (95% CI: 61.5-75.9), from 2015 and 2016, respectively) (p = 0.031). Antibody occurrence seems to be higher than previously reported in other Mediterranean countries during the last years (28.6%-46.5%) [3,11,12]. Anti-T. gondii seroconversion was observed in 26 sheep, which was due to exposure/infection by T. gondii, showing that an increasing individual risk exists with increased age.…”

Towards an Integrated Approach for Monitoring Toxoplasmosis in Southern Italy

“…To gain more insight into the role of meat as a source of human infection with T. gondii, in this study, seroprevalence in the main meat-producing livestock species was investigated. According to the results obtained in other studies [14,[39][40][41], high seroprevalence values were reported during the slaughter's activities, highlighting the fundamental role that infected meat plays in the T. gondii epidemiology. Of these, the seroprevalence obtained in pigs raised for familiar consumption are of particular importance since the pork products are, usually, consumed raw, processed only by smoking and/or salting and thus, may be potential sources of toxoplasmosis for humans [42].…”

“…Several studies have been conducted to establish the seroprevalence of T. gondii in livestock across the Italian regions. In central-northern Italy, seroprevalence ranged from 27.5% to 60.6% at individual animal level [13,14] and up to 97.0% [13] at farm level in small ruminants whereas a prevalence value of 68.4% was reported in cattle farms [15]. The same epidemiological scenario was encountered in southern and insular regions, where high prevalence values, up to 87.0%, were reported in small ruminant farms [16].…”

Modernization of Control of Pathogenic Micro-Organisms in the Food-Chain Requires a Durable Role for Immunoaffinity-Based Detection Methodology—A Review

“…It is also a matrix with high predictive power for the occurrence of HEV in pork [79]. Its use to screen other pathogens, such as the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii in other food animals, including goats and sheep [80,81], has been well demonstrated. However, anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG levels in heart, diaphragm, tongue samples vary significantly [82] and test sensitivity using diaphragm juice is 60-77% compared to serum [83].…”