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Toxoplasma gondii in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) from Romania: what is the importance for public health?

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Abstract

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in autochthonous Carpathian buffaloes from northwestern Romania by serology, PCR techniques, and mouse bioassay. Agreement between MAT and ELISA, correlation between indirect and direct detection methods, and risk factors were evaluated. The apparent overall seroprevalence of T. gondii was 8.1% by MAT and 6.6% by ELISA. The agreement between ELISA and MAT was fair. The apparent seroprevalence was significantly higher in adult buffaloes (12.5%) compared to calves (0.0%) and juveniles (1.9%) by MAT. Most of the positive adult buffaloes detected by MAT had antibodies at a low sera dilution and the highest dilution was 1:768 in a juvenile female (30 months). No viable T. gondii was detected by mouse bioassay, as no T. gondii cyst or DNA was found in the brain of mice and they did not seroconvert. However, T. gondii DNA was detected in two buffaloes: in a 30-month-old male buffalo by qPCR on the diaphragm digest and in a 252-month-old female buffalo by RE nPCR on the mesenteric lymph node. Both animals were negative in MAT and ELISA. The total prevalence of T. gondii by direct detection methods was 2.7%. There was no correlation between indirect and direct detection methods. Since no viable T. gondii was detected in buffaloes, the risk of human infection from buffalo meat is minimal. Buffaloes’ biological response to a T. gondii infection appears to be very similar to the response of cattle.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Marieke Opsteegh for the helpful suggestions.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Diana Bărburaș & Adriana Gyӧrke

    Present address: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

  2. Diana Bărburaș, Adriana Gyӧrke and Radu Blaga contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Zsuzsa Kalmár, Viorica Mircean & Vasile Cozma

  2. UMR BIPAR, INRA, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, ANSES, Université Paris-Est, F-94700, Maisons-Alfort, France

    Radu Blaga & Amandine Blaizot

  3. S.C. Medivet Bărburaș S.R.L, Românași, Salaj, Romania

    Remus Bărburaș

  4. Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, 34-36 Republicii, 400015, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania

    Simona Vişan

Authors
  1. Diana Bărburaș
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  2. Adriana Gyӧrke
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  4. Remus Bărburaș
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Diana Bărburaș or Adriana Gyӧrke.

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Bărburaș, D., Gyӧrke, A., Blaga, R. et al. Toxoplasma gondii in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) from Romania: what is the importance for public health?. Parasitol Res 118, 2695–2703 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06396-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06396-6

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