title: Prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in meat animals and meat products destined for human consumption.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that is responsible for approximately 24% of all estimated deaths attributed to foodborne pathogens in the United States. Human infection results from accidental ingestion of oocysts from the environment, in water, or on insufficiently washed produce or from consumption of raw or undercooked meat products that contain T. gondii tissue cysts. This review focused on studies of T. gondii in meat because many human T. gondii infections are acquired through consumption of raw or undercooked meat. Prevalence of T. gondii is higher in conventionally reared pigs, sheep, and poultry than in cattle and is greater in meat products from organic than from conventionally reared meat animals because of outdoor access, which poses substantially greater opportunities for exposure to infected rodents, wildlife, and oocyst-contaminated feed, water, or environmental surfaces. Risk factors related to T. gondii exposure for livestock include farm type, feed source, presence of cats, methods of rodent and bird control, methods of carcass handling, and water quality. This review serves as a useful resource and information repository for informing quantitative risk assessment studies for T. gondii infection in humans through meat consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agriculture Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Jitender P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agriculture Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Center for Food Safety and Security Systems, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.affiliation: Fellowships Office, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001, USA.
authors.forename: H Ray
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Gamble
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Center for Food Safety and Security Systems, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA. akp@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Abani K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pradhan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008461:Meat Products / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology