Seroprevalence and genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from pigs intended for human consumption in Liaoning province, northeastern China

Abstract

BackgroundGenetic information for Toxoplasma gondii isolates from pigs in eastern, south, and southwestern regions of China has been reported previously. However, there are no data from pigs in the northeastern area of the country. To better understand the epidemiology of T. gondii, we determined the seroprevalence and genotypes of T. gondii from pigs slaughtered for human consumption in Liaoning province, northeastern China.FindingsOut of 2063 pigs examined, 233 (11.26 %) were seropositive for T. gondii by the modified agglutination test (MAT), and viable parasites were isolated by bioassay in mice from 23 (9.87 %) of the 233 seropositive pigs. Fifteen out of 23 isolates were genotyped using 10 PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genetic markers including SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1 and Apico. One isolate was identified as ToxoDB genotype #3 (type II-variant), and one was genotype #1 or #3. The other 13 isolates were ToxoDB #9 (type Chinese 1).ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii isolation and genotyping from pigs in northeastern China. This study indicates that pigs are a potential source for transmission of T. gondii to humans, therefore poses a potential public health concern. The genotyping results revealed the presence of genotype Chinese 1 in northeastern China, enriching the scope of T. gondii genotypes distribution in eastern Asia.

Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii in Food Animals and Humans (2000–2017) From China

“…The China annual production of pork, chicken, mutton, and beef has been estimated at 55, 18, 4 and 7 million tones, respectively (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2015 update). Meats have become the major and favored food in the past decades ( Jiang et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Yang et al, 2017b ). Simmered meat, rice, noodles, and mass-cooked vegetables are the main ingredients in the traditional Chinese diet.…”

Low prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in pork from slaughter houses in the central of China

“…For swine, from serological assays, it has been shown that meat juice from hearts should be diluted to approximately a fifth of the serum dilution; diaphragm samples had T. gondii titers less than one tenth of the serum titer [7]. Previous reports have screened for T. gondii antibodies in swine sera at a 1:25 dilution or higher by MAT [1,3], prompting us to use this as a cut-off in the present study. The MAT has been extensively used to detect IgG antibodies to T. gondii in sera or body fluids of animals, and its validity was supported by the isolation of T. gondii from pigs [1,3,8,9].…”

“…Previous reports have screened for T. gondii antibodies in swine sera at a 1:25 dilution or higher by MAT [1,3], prompting us to use this as a cut-off in the present study. The MAT has been extensively used to detect IgG antibodies to T. gondii in sera or body fluids of animals, and its validity was supported by the isolation of T. gondii from pigs [1,3,8,9]. We adopted a cut-off value of 1:25 for serum and serum from heart blood, and a cut-off value of 1:10 for the diaphragm exudate.…”

“…The overall estimated seroprevalence for T. gondii in swine is 32.9% from published papers of 2000-2017 in China, and T. gondii strains have been isolated from swine and genotyped as ToxoDB#9, ToxoDB#3, and ToxoDB#1 [3][4]. Overall, the infection of T. gondii in swine samples from hospitals is higher than that of farms and slaughterhouses [4].…”

Anti- Toxoplasma gondii effect of Lumefantrine in vitro and in vivo

“…T. gondii is a potential threat to both human and animal health. Toxoplasmosis is normally innocuous in individuals with a good immune system, however, T. gondii is quite severe or even fatal for immunocompromised patients, such as those with AIDS, tumour and organ transplant recipients [7][8][9]. In women, primary infection during pregnancy can cause severe damage to fetus and newborns, including blindness, abortion, and stillbirth.…”