Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis with high impact on human and animal health. Consumption of unpasteurized milk is a risk factor of human toxoplasmosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence and molecular prevalence of T. gondii in goats’ milk in Northwest of Tunisia (Jendouba Governorate). A total number of 77 blood samples were collected from six herds were screened with a commercial ELISA kit for T. gondii antibodies. For the same goats’ samples, a nested PCR was performed to detect T. gondii DNA in milk. The seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was 31.2% (±0.05) while the molecular prevalence of this parasite in milk was estimated to 7.8% (±0.03). A very low value of kappa showed that there is not agreement between seroprevalence and parasite prevalence in milk. These results suggest that the consumption of raw milk from naturally infected goats is a potential source of human infection. An extension programme should be implemented to decrease related to goats’ raw milk consumption.

Abstract

To evaluate the serological status for Trypanosoma cruzi, Toxoplasma gondii and Leptospira interrogans antibodies in free roaming dogs and cats from a marginated rural community in Yucatan Mexico, 100 households were visited and animals sampled. From the 106 samples, 93 were from dogs and 13 were from cats. Frequency of positive results for T. gondii, T. cruzi and Leptospira spp was 97.8%, 9.7% and 45.2% for dogs and 92.3%, 0.0% and 15.2% for cats, respectively. No associations with age, sex and body condition was found for T. gondii and Leptospira spp neither for the place where pets sleep, fumigation or presence of triatomes in the household in the case of T. cruzi. For leptospirosis the most common serovars found were Canicola, Autralis and Bratislava in dogs and cats with titres of 100 or 200 with exception of one dog with a titre of 400. The high frequency of seropositive dogs suggests a high circulation of the agents in the population of free roaming owned dogs and cats probably due to the lack of control of the reservoirs and vectors involved. Domestic animals in those rural communities can be sentinels to assess the risk of human exposure in the rural communities.

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. It can infect all warm-blooded vertebrate species and causes abortions and birth defects in pregnant women and pregnant ewes. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of infection with T. gondii in sheep meat in the region of Sidi Bouzid (central Tunisia) and Beja (northern Tunisia), the realization of a descriptive study of risk factors and the phylogenetic analyses of T. gondii. Neck muscle samples were obtained from 174 ewes and ewe lamb slaughtered in Sidi Bouzid and 150 lambs slaughtered in Beja. DNA was extracted from the samples using the Wizard® genomic DNA purification kit. A nested PCR using two pairs of primers (NN 1 and NN2, Tg-NP1 and Tg-NP2) were used to detect infection with T. gondii, which was then confirmed by sequencing. Eight T. gondii amplicons were sequenced (accession number KT896498) and deposited in GenBank. The T. gondii amplicons showed 97–100% identities with GenBank sequences. A phylogenetic tree was then constructed. The nested PCR detected T. gondii DNA in 31% of animals tested in Sidi Bouzid and 32% of lambs tested in Beja. No significant difference in the prevalence of T. gondii infection was established between the two tested regions. In both regions, no significant variation of the infection depending on age, breed and locality was found.