An innovative survey underlining the significant level of contamination by Toxoplasma gondii of ovine meat consumed in France

The Life Cycle of Toxoplasma gondii in the Natural Environment

“…For instance, Dumètre et al [144] showed by multilocus microsatellite analysis the predominance of type II in sheep, which has also been previously described in humans. In the same way, Halos et al [145] analysed 433 hearts of sheep by using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism and microsatellite markers on parasites isolated after bioassay in mice. All 46 genotypes belonged to type II, except for one strain from the Pyrenees mountains area, which belonged to genotype III, which is the first non-type II genotype found in sheep in Europe [146], Denmark [147] and France [144].…”

“…Tissue cysts are responsible for meat-borne infection (pork, lamb, beef or poultry are possible source of contamination), while sporulated oocysts lead to infection by ingesting particles of soil (after gardening for example) or by consuming unwashed raw fruits or vegetables, or untreated water [2,145,173,174,175]. However, the crucial question of the relative part of risk related to bradyzoits versus oocysts remains open.…”

Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii Isolates with 15 Microsatellite Markers in a Single Multiplex PCR Assay

“…The first step of discrimination is the performed at the typing level: that is, employing the ability of markers to distinguish the major clonal lineages from atypical strains. In areas with a marked clonal population structure such as Europe, the genetic screening of clinical isolates should rapidly identify basic type II or III strains, which represent the majority of isolates, and atypical strains, which are the exception to the rule (3,11). In this context, the identification of atypical strains is of clinical and epidemiological importance because atypical strains are usually associated with severe disease outcomes and contamination of individuals by non-European strains either during residence abroad or after consumption of imported meat (5,9,10).…”

Direct Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in Ocular Fluid Samples from 20 Patients with Ocular Toxoplasmosis: Predominance of Type II in France

“…Nevertheless, several reports have demonstrated an association of atypical strains with severe forms of the disease, including pulmonary or multivisceral toxoplasmosis in immunocompetent patients (6,8,9) and disseminated congenital toxoplasmosis (2). Among patients with AIDS, the T. gondii strain genotype is strongly associated with geographical origin (18).…”