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. 2023 Apr 1;12(4):547.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens12040547.

Molecular Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Blood Samples of Domestic Livestock in the Republic of Korea

Min-Jeong Ji  1 , Hyung-Chul Cho  1 , Yu-Jin Park  1 , Dong-Hun Jang  1 , Jinho Park  2 , Kyoung-Seong Choi  1
Affiliations

Molecular Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Blood Samples of Domestic Livestock in the Republic of Korea

Min-Jeong Ji et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii, a major zoonotic pathogen distributed worldwide, causes severe infections in humans, animals, and birds. However, limited information is available regarding T. gondii infection in livestock in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Herein, we determined the prevalence of T. gondii infection in livestock in the ROK and identified animal species that can potentially transmit T. gondii to humans. B1 gene-targeting nested polymerase chain reaction detected T. gondii DNA in 3.3% (2/61), 2.9% (3/105), 14.1% (11/78), and 15.4% (14/91) of dairy cattle, beef cattle, Boer goats, and Korean native goats, respectively. The prevalence of T. gondii was significantly higher (p = 0.002) in goats than in cattle. The risk of contracting T. gondii infection was significantly higher by 6.18-fold in Korean native goats (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.72-22.27%, p = 0.005) and by 5.58-fold in Boer goats (95% CI: 1.50-20.76%, p = 0.010) than in beef cattle. Our T. gondii DNA sequences exhibited 97.1-100% homology with those obtained from various hosts in other countries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report T. gondii infection using the blood samples of domestic ruminants in the ROK. The results revealed that the prevalence of T. gondii infection is higher in goats than in cattle as determined by molecular detection. Thus, these findings suggest that T. gondii can be transmitted from ruminants to humans via meat consumption.

Keywords: B1 gene; Toxoplasma gondii; cattle; goats; nested PCR.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of the farms selected for sample collection in the Republic of Korea.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree based on the B1 gene of T. gondii constructed via the maximum-likelihood method using the JC + G + I model. The numbers over the branches indicate bootstrap values as a percentage of 1000 replicates that support each phylogenetic branch. Only bootstrap values exceeding 70% are presented. The sequences marked with circles and red boldface type were determined in this study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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