Abstract
We report on apparent temporal progression of probable sources of infection and transmission routes for global human toxoplasmosis outbreaks as described in published articles. We searched the Scientific Electronic Library Online, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases for articles on Toxoplasma, toxoplasmosis, and outbreaks. We found that transmission routes for Toxoplasma gondii varied by decade. In the 1960s and 1990s, toxoplasmosis outbreaks mainly occurred through ingestion of cysts in meat and meat derivatives; in the 1980s, through milk contaminated with tachyzoites; in 2000, due to the presence of oocysts in water, sand, and soil; and in 2010, due to oocysts in raw fruits and vegetables. Our study suggests a possible change in the epidemiology of reported toxoplasmosis outbreaks. Because of this change, we suggest that greater attention be paid to the disinfection of vegetables, as well as to the quality of water used for drinking and irrigation.
Highlights
We report on apparent temporal progression of probable sources of infection and transmission routes for global human toxoplasmosis outbreaks as described in published articles
We report a possible temporal progression of the probable sources of infection and transmission routes described in articles on human toxoplasmosis outbreaks throughout the world from the 1960s through March 2018
We reviewed published articles to look for changes in the pattern of transmission routes and sources of infection for toxoplasmosis outbreaks in humans around the world
Summary
We report on apparent temporal progression of probable sources of infection and transmission routes for global human toxoplasmosis outbreaks as described in published articles. In the 1960s and 1990s, toxoplasmosis outbreaks mainly occurred through ingestion of cysts in meat and meat derivatives; in the 1980s, through milk contaminated with tachyzoites; in 2000, due to the presence of oocysts in water, sand, and soil; and in 2010, due to oocysts in raw fruits and vegetables. Transmission mainly occurs through the ingestion of water, vegetables, or soil contaminated with oocysts (sporozoites) or raw or undercooked meat containing viable tissue cysts (bradyzoites), characterizing this disease as a foodborne zoonosis [3]. We report a possible temporal progression of the probable sources of infection and transmission routes described in articles on human toxoplasmosis outbreaks throughout the world from the 1960s through March 2018
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