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. 2019:26:77.
doi: 10.1051/parasite/2019076. Epub 2019 Dec 23.

Toxoplasma gondii in beef consumed in France: regional variation in seroprevalence and parasite isolation

Radu Blaga  1 , Dominique Aubert  2 , Anne Thébault  3 , Catherine Perret  4 , Régine Geers  2 , Myriam Thomas  4 , Annie Alliot  4 , Vitomir Djokic  4 , Naïma Ortis  2 , Lénaïg Halos  1 , Benoît Durand  5 , Aurélien Mercier  6 , Isabelle Villena  2 , Pascal Boireau  4
Affiliations

Toxoplasma gondii in beef consumed in France: regional variation in seroprevalence and parasite isolation

Radu Blaga et al. Parasite. 2019.

Abstract
in English, French

In France, the consumption of cattle and sheep meat appears to be a risk factor for infection of pregnant women with Toxoplasma gondii. Several nation-wide surveys in France have investigated the prevalence of T. gondii in sheep and pig meat, but little is known at present about the prevalence of the parasite in beef. The main objective of the present cross-sectional survey was to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in beef consumed in France. A secondary objective was to attempt to isolate T. gondii from cattle tissues and to study the geographical and age variations of this seroprevalence. The overall estimate of seroprevalence of T. gondii in bovine carcasses (n = 2912), for a threshold of 1:6 was 17.38%. A strong age effect was observed (p < 0.0001) with a seroprevalence of 5.34% for calves (<8 months) and 23.12% for adults (>8 months). Seroprevalence estimates given by area of birth and area of slaughtering for adults showed that the areas with the highest seroprevalence were not the same between these two variables. Only two strains, corresponding to genotype II, were isolated from heart samples, indicating that there is a limited risk of human infection with T. gondii, which needs to be correlated with the food habit of consuming raw or undercook (bleu or saignant) beef. However, new questions have emerged, especially concerning the isolation of parasites from beef and the precise role of bovines, generally described as poor hosts for T. gondii, in human infection.

Title: Toxoplasma gondii dans la viande bovine consommée en France : variation régionale de la séroprévalence et isolement de parasites.

Abstract: En France, la consommation de viande bovine et ovine apparaît comme un facteur de risque pour la contamination des femmes enceintes par Toxoplasma gondii. Plusieurs enquêtes nationales ont été réalisées afin de déterminer le niveau de contamination par T. gondii de la viande ovine et porcine, en France, mais très peu est encore connu quant à la prévalence du parasite dans la viande bovine. La présente enquête transversale avait pour objectif principal d’estimer la séroprévalence de l’infection à T. gondii dans la viande bovine consommée en France, ainsi que d’isoler T. gondii à partir de tissus de bovins et d’étudier, à titre d’objectif secondaire, les variations géographiques et d’âge de cette prévalence. L’estimation globale de la séroprévalence de T. gondii dans les carcasses de bovins (n = 2912) était de 17,38 % (pour un seuil de dilution à 1:6). Un effet significatif de l’âge a été observé (p < 0,0001) avec une séroprévalence de 5,34 % pour les veaux (<8 mois) et de 23,12 % pour les adultes (>8 mois). Les estimations de séroprévalence données par zone de naissance et par zone d’abattage pour les adultes montrent que les zones de séroprévalence les plus élevées n’étaient pas les mêmes pour ces deux variables. Seulement deux souches, de génotype II, ont été isolées à partir d’échantillons de cœurs, soulignant que le risque d’infection humaine est limité, mais doit être corrélé avec les habitudes de consommation alimentaire de la viande bovine peu/pas cuite (bleu ou saignante). Cependant, de nouvelles questions se posent, notamment en ce qui concerne l’isolement du parasite à partir de la viande bovine, ainsi que le rôle précis des bovins, généralement décrits comme des hôtes médiocres pour T. gondii, dans la contamination humaine.

Keywords: Bovines; Meat; Prevalences; Strain isolation; Toxoplasma gondii.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Map of French beef production according to the Ministry of Agriculture database. The colour gradient represents the number of cattle slaughtered in 2007. (B) The numbers represent the number of slaughterhouses per region that were included in the cross-sectional survey of Toxoplasma gondii presence in beef produced in France.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Geographical variation of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence of French bovine samples according to the area of slaughtering and to age categories: (A) calves; (B) adults; (C) bovines overall (calves and adults). The numbers represent the number of samples collected for each region.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Terminal titer of the modified agglutination test (MAT) for French origin samples in relation to age (A) for all samples (n = 2348) (age in years); (B) only for bovines less than 1 year (n = 601) (age in months). The number of observations at each month of age is given at the top of the corresponding bar.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in bovines of French origin (adults + calves) accordingly to the age and the titer (6; 10; 25; 50; 100; 200).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of observed values versus predicted values by the final model according to age. The observed values are in green bars, while for the predicted values the red point represents the mean prediction and the blue segment the 95% confidence interval of the prediction. The number above the blue segment is the number of observations for this particular class of age.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Prediction by the final model of the age-related seroprevalence (cut-off titer of 6), with the 95% confidence interval represented by the light green colour and the 80% confidence interval by the dark green colour.
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