Prevalence and risk factors for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse workers in western Kenya

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Liverpoolen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Nairobien
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Global Health Equityen
cg.contributor.affiliationKenya Medical Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.crpAgriculture for Nutrition and Health
cg.contributor.donorWellcome Trusten
cg.contributor.donorUK Research and Innovationen
cg.contributor.donorBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdomen
cg.coverage.countryKenya
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KE
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.creator.identifierElizabeth Cook: 0000-0001-6081-8363en
cg.creator.identifierLian Thomas: 0000-0001-8447-1210en
cg.creator.identifierWilliam de Glanville: 0000-0003-2474-0356en
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06658-8en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn1471-2334en
cg.issue1en
cg.journalBMC Infectious Diseasesen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.speciesToxoplasma gondiien
cg.subject.ilriHUMAN HEALTHen
cg.subject.ilriZOONOTIC DISEASESen
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food security
cg.subject.sdgSDG 3 - Good health and well-beingen
cg.volume21en
dc.contributor.authorCook, Elizabeth A.J.en
dc.contributor.authorGitahi, N.en
dc.contributor.authorGlanville, William A. deen
dc.contributor.authorThomas, Lian F.en
dc.contributor.authorKariuki, S.en
dc.contributor.authorKang'ethe, Erastus K.en
dc.contributor.authorFèvre, Eric M.en
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-14T09:20:39Zen
dc.date.available2021-09-14T09:20:39Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/114963
dc.titlePrevalence and risk factors for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse workers in western Kenyaen
dcterms.abstractBackground Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan parasite infecting warm-blooded animals. Infection in people can occur through ingestion of oocysts passed in the faeces of the definitive hosts; ingestion of bradyzoites in the tissue of infected intermediate hosts; or exposure to tachyzoites in raw milk and eggs. Slaughterhouse workers are considered a high-risk group for T. gondii exposure because of their contact with raw meat, although a positive relationship between handling raw meat and T. gondii seropositivity has not been demonstrated in all studies. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii in slaughterhouse workers in Kenya and identify risk factors associated with seropositivity. Methods A survey of slaughterhouse workers was conducted in 142 slaughter facilities in the study area. Information regarding demographics, contact with livestock, meat consumption, and practices in the slaughterhouse was collected using structured questionnaires. Commercial ELISAs were used to detect IgM and IgG antibodies against T. gondii and a multi-level logistic regression model was used to identify potential risk factors for seropositivity in slaughterhouse workers. Results The apparent prevalence of antibodies to T. gondii was 84.0% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 81.2–86.5%) for IgG and 2.2% (95% CI 1.3–3.5%) for IgM antibodies. All IgM positive individuals were IgG positive. Risk factors for exposure to T. gondii were: increasing age (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.03; 95% CI 1.01–1.05); owning poultry (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.11–3.62); and consuming animal blood (OR 1.92; 95% CI 1.21–3.03). Conclusions The seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii was very high in this population and considerably higher than published values in the general population. Risk factors included age, owning poultry and drinking animal blood which were consistent with previous reports but none were specifically associated with working in the slaughterhouse. In this instance slaughterhouse workers may represent a useful sentinel for the general population where the level of exposure is also likely to be high and may signify an unidentified public health risk to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women. A detailed understanding of the epidemiology of infection is required, which should include an assessment of incidence, mortality, and burden since T. gondii infection is likely to have life-long sequelae.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen
dcterms.available2021-09-11en
dcterms.bibliographicCitationCook, E.A.J., Gitahi, N., Glanville, W.A. de, Thomas, L.F., Kariuki, S., Kang'ethe, E. and Fèvre, E.M. 2021. Prevalence and risk factors for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse workers in western Kenya. BMC Infectious Diseases 21: 944.en
dcterms.extent944en
dcterms.issued2021-12en
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherSpringeren
dcterms.subjectzoonosesen
dcterms.subjecthealthen
dcterms.subjectoccupational healthen
dcterms.subjecttoxoplasmosisen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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