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_US
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Liverpoolen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Nairobien_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Global Health Equityen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationKenya Medical Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.crpAgriculture for Nutrition and Healthen_US
cg.contributor.donorWellcome Trusten_US
cg.contributor.donorUK Research and Innovationen_US
cg.contributor.donorBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdomen_US
cg.coverage.countryKenyaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KEen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierElizabeth Cook: 0000-0001-6081-8363en_US
cg.creator.identifierLian Thomas: 0000-0001-8447-1210en_US
cg.creator.identifierWilliam de Glanville: 0000-0003-2474-0356en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06658-8en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn1471-2334en_US
cg.issue1en_US
cg.journalBMC Infectious Diseasesen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.speciesToxoplasma gondiien_US
cg.subject.ilriHUMAN HEALTHen_US
cg.subject.ilriZOONOTIC DISEASESen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 3 - Good health and well-beingen_US
cg.volume21en_US
dc.contributor.authorCook, Elizabeth A.J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGitahi, N.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGlanville, William A. deen_US
dc.contributor.authorThomas, Lian F.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKariuki, S.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKang'ethe, Erastus K.en_US
dc.contributor.authorFèvre, Eric M.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-14T09:20:39Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-09-14T09:20:39Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/114963en_US
dc.titlePrevalence and risk factors for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse workers in western Kenyaen_US
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_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen_US
dcterms.available2021-09-11en_US
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_US
dcterms.extent944en_US
dcterms.issued2021-12en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherSpringeren_US
dcterms.subjectzoonosesen_US
dcterms.subjecthealthen_US
dcterms.subjectoccupational healthen_US
dcterms.subjecttoxoplasmosisen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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