Serological and molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii in terrestrial and marine wildlife harvested for food in Nunavik, Canada

Abstract

Background Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic protozoan parasite, infects mammals and birds worldwide. Infection in humans is often asymptomatic, though illnesses can occur in immunocompromised hosts and the fetuses of susceptible women infected during pregnancy. In Nunavik, Canada, 60% of the Inuit population has measurable antibodies against T. gondii. Handling and consumption of wildlife have been identified as risk factors for exposure. Serological evidence of exposure has been reported for wildlife in Nunavik; however, T. gondii has not been detected in wildlife tissues commonly consumed by Inuit. Methods We used a magnetic capture DNA extraction and real-time PCR protocol to extract and amplify T. gondii DNA from large quantities of tissues (up to 100 g) of 441 individual animals in Nunavik: 166 ptarmigan ( Lagopus lagopus ), 156 geese ( Branta canadensis and Chen caerulescens ), 61 ringed seals ( Pusa hispida) , 31 caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) and 27 walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus ). Results DNA from T. gondii was detected in 9% (95% CI: 3–15%) of geese from four communities in western and southern Nunavik, but DNA was not detected in other wildlife species including 20% (95% CI: 12–31%) of ringed seals and 26% (95% CI: 14–43%) of caribou positive on a commercial modified agglutination test (MAT) using thawed heart muscle juice. In geese, tissue parasite burden was highest in heart, followed by brain, breast muscle, liver and gizzard. Serological results did not correlate well with tissue infection status for any wildlife species. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report on the detection, quantification, and characterization of DNA of T. gondii (clonal lineage II in one goose) from wildlife harvested for food in Nunavik, which supports the hypothesis that migratory geese can carry T. gondii into Nunavik where feline definitive hosts are rare. This study suggests that direct detection methods may be useful for detection of T. gondii in wildlife harvested for human consumption and provides data needed for a quantitative exposure assessment that will determine the risk of T. gondii exposure for Inuit who harvest and consume geese in Nunavik.

Seroprevalence and risk factors ofToxoplasma gondiiinfection in wild ungulates that cohabit in a natural park with human–animal interaction in the Mediterranean ecosystem

“…Toxoplasma the MAT in the present study (1:25) is the most common used in wildlife studies (Almeria et al, 2018;Bachand et al, 2019;Dubey et al, 2021;Gauss et al, ,2005Gauss et al, , , 2006Lou et al, 2015) 18.6% and 23.8% (Almeria et al, 2018;Calero-Bernal et al, 2016).…”

“…This study evidences widespread T. gondii seroprevalence among the wild ungulate species present in SCSV‐NP. The cut‐off used in the MAT in the present study (1:25) is the most common used in wildlife studies (Almeria et al., 2018; Bachand et al., 2019; Dubey et al., 2021; Gauss et al., ,2005, 2006; Lou et al., 2015), although a slightly overestimation of the seroprevalence obtained due to this diagnosis criteria cannot be ruled out. Significantly higher T. gondii seroprevalence were observed in wild boars (20.8%) and fallow deer (19.0%) compared to mouflons (3.1%).…”

Multi-pathogen serological survey of migratory caribou herds: A snapshot in time

“…In brief, Brucella suis biovar 4 is zoonotic and has been reported from all major barren-ground caribou herds from Alaska to Baffin Island but recent information on its prevalence and distribution is missing [40,41]. Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii, has previously been reported in Rangifer [42][43][44][45]. They can have reproductive impacts, which could lead to significant reductions in productivity and may additively influence population declines [16,42].…”

Fatal toxoplasmosis in wild European brown hares ( Lepus europaeus ) in tularaemia endemic areas of the Czech Republic: Poses risk of infection for humans?

“…A high number of T. gondii parasites were detected especially in the lungs and spleen, where the parasite counts per gram of tissue exceeded 1,000,000. This is a unique finding, because recent studies (Aigner et al, 2010;Bachand et al, 2019) present, the highest number of T. gondii (837,600 parasites per gram of tissue) has been recorded in the brain of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) from Italy (Santoro et al, 2019). Such a high number of parasites have not been confirmed even in experimental infections with T. gondii (Juránková et al, 2014(Juránková et al, , 2015Schares et al, 2018).…”