title: Toxoplasmosis in the Caribbean islands: literature review, seroprevalence in pregnant women in ten countries, isolation of viable Toxoplasma gondii from dogs from St. Kitts, West Indies with report of new T. gondii genetic types.
abstract: Little is currently known of clinical toxoplasmosis in humans and animals in the Caribbean. We investigated the prevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies in 437 pregnant women from 10 English speaking Caribbean countries. Overall, antibodies (IgG) to Toxoplasma gondii (modified agglutination test, MAT, cut-off 1:6) were found in 174 (39.8 %) of 437 human sera; specifically 12 of 38 from Antigua-Barbuda, 26 of 52 from Belize, 9 of 50 from Bermuda, 29 of 49 from Dominica, 18 of 49 from Grenada, 16 of 47 from Jamaica, 5 of 15 from Montserrat, 8 of 44 from St. Kitts/Nevis, 24 of 45 from St. Lucia, and 27 of 50 from St. Vincent/Grenadines were seropositive. All IgG-positive sera were tested for IgM antibodies using the immunocapture method; all sera were negative for IgM antibodies. Additionally, tissues and sera of 45 dogs from St. Kitts were examined for T. gondii infection. Antibodies (IgG, MAT, 1:≥25) were found in 19 (42.2 %) of 45 dogs. Muscle samples (tongue, leg) of 19 seropositive dogs were digested in pepsin, and homogenates were bioassayed in mice. Viable T. gondii were isolated from 6 dogs. T. gondii isolates were further propagated in cell culture. PCR-RFLP genotyping of cell culture derived tachyzoites using 10 genetic markers, SAG1, SAG2 (5' and 3' SAG2, and alt.SAG2) SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico revealed that 4 isolates were ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype #2, and 2 were new genotypes #264 and #265. Review of 22 viable T. gondii isolates from chickens, dogs, and cats from Grenada and St. Kitts revealed that 1 isolate was type II, 13 were type III, and 8 were atypical. Thus, type III strains were predominant. Overall, the study revealed high prevalence of T. gondii in the Caribbean islands.
authors.affiliation: Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. Jitender.Dubey@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Jitender P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA.
authors.forename: Shiv Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Biological Ressource Centre Toxoplasma, EA 3800, University Reims Champagne Ardenne and Hôpital Maison Blanche, 45 rue Cognacq-Jay, Cedex 51092, Reims, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Villena
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Biological Ressource Centre Toxoplasma, EA 3800, University Reims Champagne Ardenne and Hôpital Maison Blanche, 45 rue Cognacq-Jay, Cedex 51092, Reims, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Biological Ressource Centre Toxoplasma, EA 3800, University Reims Champagne Ardenne and Hôpital Maison Blanche, 45 rue Cognacq-Jay, Cedex 51092, Reims, France.
authors.forename: Régine
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geers
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996-0845, USA.
authors.forename: Chunlei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, St. George's University, P.0. Box 7, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies.
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Forde
authors.affiliation: Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies.|Veterinary Pathobiology, College of School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University One Health Initiative, College Station, TX, 77845, USA.|Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland, South Africa.
authors.forename: Rosina C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Krecek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D002415:Cats; D002645:Chickens; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014900:West Indies / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Bioassay; Caribbean; Dog; Genotype; Human; Toxoplasma gondii