Toxoplasma gondii in a Remote Subsistence Hunting-Based Indigenous Community of the Peruvian Amazon
Menajovsky, María Fernanda (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)
Espunyes, Johan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)
Ulloa, Gabriela (Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia)
Calderon, Maritza (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia)
Diestra, Andrea (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia)
Malaga, Edith (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia)
Muñoz-Batet, Carmen (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Montero, Stephanie (Emerge, Emerging Diseases and Climate Change Research Unit)
Lescano, Andres G. (Clima, Latin American Center of Excellence for Climate Change and Health)
Santolalla, Meddly L. (Emerge, Emerging Diseases and Climate Change Research Unit)
Cabezón Ponsoda, Óscar (Unitat mixta d'investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
Mayor Aparicio, Pedro Ginés (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects a wide variety range of warm-blooded animals. This study describes the epidemiological scenario of T. gondii in an indigenous community that relies on subsistence hunting in a well-conserved and isolated area of the Peruvian Amazon. The high seropositivity against T. gondii in humans (83. 3% IgG and 6. 1% IgM), wild mammals (30. 45%, 17 species), peri-domestic rodents (10. 0% Rattus sp. ), and domestic animals (94. 1% dogs and 100% cats) indicates the existence of a sylvatic cycle in the community under study. Individual age was found to be positively associated with IgG detection against T. gondii but not with IgM. It is estimated that each family consumed 5. 67 infected animals per year with terrestrial species having higher infective rates than arboreal species. The main risk factors included improper handling and cooking of wild meat, poor hygiene practices, and feeding uncooked offal to domestic animals. This scenario results in a continuous process of infection and reinfection within the indigenous community with cats, dogs, and peri-domestic animals becoming infected through the ingestion of infected raw viscera. Our results emphasize the need to promote safe food handling practices and disposal of waste materials from hunted animals in such communities.
Grants:	Instituto de Salud Carlos III 400800/2019-5 CNPq
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Toxoplasma gondii ; Wildlife ; Wildmeat ; Bushmeat ; Indigenous people ; One Health ; Subsistence hunting ; Amazon
Published in:	Tropical medicine and infectious disease, Vol. 9 Núm. 5 (2024) , p. 98, ISSN 2414-6366

DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed9050098
PMID: 38787031

13 p, 1.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA-IRTA)
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Published articles