title: An innovative survey underlining the significant level of contamination by Toxoplasma gondii of ovine meat consumed in France.
abstract: Consumption of sheep meat presents a risk of human contamination by Toxoplasma gondii. A nationwide study was conducted in France to evaluate the prevalence of Toxoplasma in fresh ovine meat. A sampling procedure was established to guarantee the representativity of consumption. As is the case for meat consumed, half of the samples were from France and half were imported from other countries. Animals were selected according to their age, as lamb (<12months) represents 90% of the meat consumed. Available data for French samples allowed the selection of 16 districts distributed in seven areas according to their density of production. Diaphragms and hearts from 433 sheep were collected. Diaphragms were collected from 398 imported carcasses. Fluids from hearts and diaphragms were tested serologically. All hearts were bioassayed in mice and parasite isolates were genotyped using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism and microsatellite markers. Prevalence estimates were calculated, taking into account uneven distribution of production and age. For French meat, the effect of area, age and their interactions was evaluated. The overall estimate of Toxoplasma seroprevalence was 17.7% (11.6-31.5%) for lambs and 89% (73.5-100%) for adults (P<0.0001). No significant difference was observed between imported and French meat. In France, seroprevalence in lambs showed an increasing North-western to Southern gradient. The proportion of French carcasses carrying live parasites according to bioassay results was estimated at 5.4% (3-7.5%) (45 genotype II; one genotype III). This study offers an accurate drawing of the toxoplasmosis pattern amongst sheep consumed in France and a model for a zoonosis hazard control survey.
authors.affiliation: ENVA/AFSSA/INRA UMR BIPAR, National Reference Laboratory for Food-Borne Parasites, 23 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France. lhalos@vet-alfort.fr
authors.forename: Lénaïg
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Halos
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thébault
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perret
authors.forename: Régine
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geers
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alliot
authors.forename: Sandie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Escotte-Binet
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ajzenberg
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dardé
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boireau
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Villena
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis / Q000469:parasitology*; D051379:Mice; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*