RESEARCH PAPER
Epidemiological study of Toxoplasma gondii infection among cattle in Northern Poland
 
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
 
2
Veterinary Hygiene Station, Gdańsk, Poland
 
 
Corresponding author
Lucyna Holec-Gąsior   

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
 
 
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2013;20(4):653-656
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is a significant disease in livestock and humans. Because of medical and veterinary importance it is essential to study the prevalence of T. gondii infection among human and animals in various parts of the word. In this study, 4033 cattle from eight provinces of Northern Poland (belonging to 190 herds) were tested for IgG antibodies against T. gondii by an in-house ELISA technique based on native Toxoplasma lysate antigen. The diagnostic sensitivity of test used in this study was 96.3%, and specificity was 98% for the group of 77 cattle sera (27 seropositive and 50 seronegative) previously characterized with the use of agglutination and immunofluorescence methods. A 127 (3.15%) out of all tested animals belonging to 72 (37.9%) out of 190 herds were founded as positive. Furthermore, our results showed that the way of feeding and farming, the size of the herd and the age of animals have the influence on the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among cattle. The percentage of infected cattle was the highest for old animals which belongs to the small herds with the traditional way of farming. These results indicate that T. gondii infection in cattle from Northern Poland is relatively low and consumption of beef and milk can be regarded as a poor source of infection for humans.
 
REFERENCES (30)
1.
Dubey JP. A review of toxoplasmosis in cattle. Vet Parasitol. 1986; 22: 177–202.
 
2.
Baril L, Ancelle T, Goulet V, Thulliez P, Tirard-Fleury V, Carme B. Risk factors for Toxoplasma infection in pregnancy: a case control study in France. Scand J Infect Dis. 1999; 31: 305–309.
 
3.
Cook AJC, Gilbert RE, Buffolano W, Zufferey J, Petersen E, Jenum PA, Foulon W, Semprini AE, Dunn DT. Sources of Toxoplasma infection in pregnant women: european multicentre case-control study. Br Med J. 2000; 321: 142–147.
 
4.
Jones JL, Dargelas V, Roberts J, Press C, Remington JS, Montoya JG. Risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2009; 49: 878–884.
 
5.
Munday BL, Corbould A. Serological responses of sheep and cattle exposed to natural Toxoplasma infection. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1979; 57: 141–145.
 
6.
Dubey JP, Thulliez P. Persistence of tissue cysts in edible tissues of cattle fed Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. Am J Vet Res. 1993; 54: 270–273.
 
7.
Esteban-Redondo I, Maley SW, Thomson K, Nicoll S, Wright S, Buxton D, Innes EA. Detection of T. gondii in tissues of sheep and cattle following oral infection. Vet Parasitol. 1999; 86: 155–171.
 
8.
Aspinall TV, Marlee D, Hyde JE, Sims PF. Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in commercial meat products as monitored by polymerase chain reaction—food for thought? Int J Parasitol. 2002; 32: 1193–1199.
 
9.
Dubey JP, Hill DE, Jones JL, Hightower AW, Kirkland E, Roberts JM, Marcet PL, Lehmann T, Vianna MC, Miska K, Sreekumar C, Kwok OC, Shen SK, Gamble HR. Prevalence of viable Toxoplasma gondii in beef, chicken, and pork from retail meat stores in the United States: risk assessment to consumers. J Parasitol. 2005; 91: 1082–1093.
 
10.
Holec-Gąsior L, Kur J, Hiszczyńska-Sawicka E, Drapała D, Dominiak-Górski B, Pejsak Z. Application of recombinant antigen in serodiagnosis of swine toxoplasmosis and prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pigs in Poland. Pol J Vet Sci. 2010; 13: 457–464.
 
11.
Garcia JL, Navarro IT, Vidotto O, Gennari SM, Machado RZ, Pereira ABL, Sinhorini IL. Toxoplasma gondii: comparison of a rhoptry- ELISA with IFAT and MAT for antibody detection in sera of experimentally infected pigs. Exp Parasitol. 2006; 113: 100–105.
 
12.
Gilot-Fromont E, Aubert D, Belkilani S, Hermitte P, Gibout O, Geers R, Villena I. Landscape, herd management and within-herd seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in beef cattle herds from Champagne-Ardenne, France. Vet Parasitol. 2009; 161: 36–40.
 
13.
Kapperud G, Jenum PA, Stray-Pedersen B, Melby KK, Eskild A, Eng J. Risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnancy – results of a prospective case-control study in Norway. Am J Epidemiol. 1996; 144: 405–412.
 
14.
Dubey JP, Jones JL. Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans and animals in the United States. Int J Parasitol. 2008; 38: 1257–1278.
 
15.
Sroka J. Seroepidemiology of toxoplasmosis in the Lublin region. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2001; 8: 25–31.
 
16.
Sroka J, Zwoliński J, Dutkiewicz J. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in farm and wild animals from the area of Lublin province. Bull Vet Inst Pulawy. 2007; 51: 535–540.
 
17.
Sroka J, Wójcik-Fatla A, Szymańska J, Dutkiewicz J, Zając V, Zwoliński J. The occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii in people and animals from rural environment of Lublin region – estimate of potential role of water as a source of infection. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2010; 17: 125–132.
 
18.
Moreno T, Martinez-Gomez F, Becerra C. The seroprevalence of bovine toxoplasmosis in Cordoba, Spain. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1991; 85:285–286.
 
19.
Klun I, Djurkovic-Djakovic O, Katic-Radivojevic S, Nikolic A. Cross-sectional survey on Toxoplasma gondii infection in cattle, sheep and pigs in Serbia: seroprevalence and risk factors. Vet Parasitol. 2006; 135: 121–131.
 
20.
Kritsepi-Konstantinou M. Serological survey of cattle for toxoplasmosis. Bull Hell Vet Med Soc. 1992; 43: 48–52.
 
21.
Avezza F, Greppi G, Agosti M, Belloli A, Faverzani S. La toxoplasmosis bovina: risultati di una indagine siero-epidemiologica. Atti Soc Ital Buiatria. 1993; 25: 621–624.
 
22.
Santos TR, Costa AJ, Toniollo GH, Luvizotto MCR, Benetti AH, Santos RR, Matta DH, Lopes WDZ, Oliveira JA, Oliveira GP. Prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in dairy cattle, dogs, and humans from the Jauru micro-region, Mato Grosso state,Brazil. Vet Parasitol. 2009; 161: 324–326.
 
23.
Tenter AM, Heckeroth AR, Weiss LM. Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. Int J Parasitol. 2000; 30: 1217–1258.
 
24.
Dubey JP. Serologic prevalence of toxoplasmosis in cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, bison, and elk in Montana. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1985; 186: 969–70.
 
25.
Pita Gondim LF, Barbosa HV Jr, Ribeiro Filho CH, Saeki H. Serological survey of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in goats, sheep, cattle and water buffaloes in Bahia State, Brazil. Vet Parasitol. 1999; 82: 273–276.
 
26.
Schoonman LB, Wilsmore T, Swai ES. Seroepidemiological investigation of bovine toxoplasmosis in traditional and smallholder cattle production systems of Tanga Region, Tanzania. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2010; 42:579–587.
 
27.
Chandrawathani P, Nurulaini R, Zanin CM, Premaalatha B, Adnan M, Jamnah O, Khor SK, Khadijah S, Lai SZ, Shaik MAB, Seah TC, Zatil SA. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in pigs, goats, cattle, dogs and cats in peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Biomedicin. 2008; 25: 257–258.
 
28.
Gamble HR, Dubey JP, Lambillotte DN. Comparison of a commercial ELISA with the modified agglutination test for detection of Toxoplasma infection in the domestic pig. Vet Parasitol. 2005; 128: 177–181.
 
29.
Dubey JP, Sundar N, Velmurugan GV, Bandini LA, Kwok OCH, Majumdar D, Su C. High prevalence and abundant atypical genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from lambs destined for human consumption in the USA. Int J Parasitol. 2008; 38: 999–1006.
 
30.
Opsteegh M, Langelaar M, Sprong H, den Hartog L, De Craeye S, Bokken G, Ajzenberg D, Kijlstra A, van der Giessen J. Direct detection and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples using magnetic capture and PCR. Int J Food Microbiol. 2010; 139: 193–201.
 
eISSN:1898-2263
ISSN:1232-1966
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top