Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite that infects all warm-blooded animals including domesticated birds and humans. Birds normally get infected by ground feeding and human beings contract the disease by consumption of undercooked chicken meat. This study aimed to analyze seroprevalence and DNA of T. gondii in chickens (domesticated and broiler) and to assess possible transfer to humans by review of available literature from Pakistan. Blood from and tissues from domesticated and broilers chickens were analyzed for Toxo-IgM/IgG and Toxoplasma DNA through ELISA and PCR respectively. Furthermore, research articles published during 1990–2019 on the prevalence of T. gondii in humans from Pakistan, were analyzed to assess the possible infection burden in the area in connection to transmission from chickens. The overall prevalence of IgM and IgG for T. gondii was 17.83% and 8.8% respectively in the study areas. Significant seroprevalence was found in domesticated chickens than broilers. In domesticated chickens, the prevalence was high in age ≥ 2 years. Toxoplasma DNA was detected in tissues with an overall prevalence of 10.84%. Higher prevalence was observed in liver (10.50%) than heart (9.5%) and muscles (7.11%). Only 4.78% broiler and 2.38% domesticated chickens were positive for both IgM and DNA, 1.2% domesticated and 1.30% broilers were positive for IgG and DNA, while 2.98% domesticated and 2.17% broilers were positive for IgM, IgG, and DNA. Available literature showed that 25.8% of human beings were infected with T. gondii in Pakistan. The prevalence was 20.64% in male and 26.82%in the female. The rate of infections increases with age and high (37.36%) was found in humans of age range 40 to 60 years. A high prevalence of T. gondii is found in both domesticated and broiler chickens in the study area. Moreover, the literature survey indicates that a high seroprevalence of T. gondii is present in human beings of Pakistan. It is concluded that the high prevalence of T. gondii in humans may be associated with the parasite transmission through infected chicken’s meat in Pakistan.
Highlights
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by a unicellular, protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii)
The prevalence rate increased with age significantly (P = 0.03) and high prevalence was found in domesticated chickens of age more than two years and in broilers of age more than 90–120 days
The literature review showed that toxoplasmosis is prevalent in humans in Pakistan
Summary
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by a unicellular, protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). It is a cyst-forming coccidian parasite and exists in three infectious morphological forms; i) an aggressive and quickly dividing tachyzoite stage, ii) slowly dividing semidormant bradyzoite stage within tissue cysts [1,2] and iii) an environmentally resistant sporozoite stage within oocysts. It is possibly transmitted to birds through food taken from the ground contaminated with oocysts. Free-range (domesticated) chickens may get infected with T. gondii during feed on the contaminated ground/soil with cat feces and excreta of domesticated animals. Direct consumption of undercooked chicken meat or meat products may be a possible way of T.gondii transmission to humans [10]
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