High prevalence of unusual genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pork meat samples from Erechim, Southern Brazil

Toxoplasmosis is the most common cause of infectious uveitis in Brazil, with a higher frequency in the South of the country. We have collected samples from porcine tongue and diaphragm obtained in both large and small abattoirs and used molecular biological technique to determine the prevalence of i...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Belfort, Rubens Neto [UNIFESP], Nussenblatt, Veronique, Rizzo, Luiz Vicente, Muccioli, Cristina [UNIFESP], Silveira, Claudio Alberto Magalhaes [UNIFESP], Nussenblatt, Robert, Khan, Assis, Sibley, L. David, Belfort, Rubens Junior [UNIFESP]
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2007
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Repository:Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unifesp.br:11600/3570
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652007000100013
http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/3570
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:ocular toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasma gondii
genotypes
toxoplasmose ocular
genótipos
Description
Summary:Toxoplasmosis is the most common cause of infectious uveitis in Brazil, with a higher frequency in the South of the country. We have collected samples from porcine tongue and diaphragm obtained in both large and small abattoirs and used molecular biological technique to determine the prevalence of infection and RFLP analysis to type the parasites. Seventeen out of 50 (34%) samples from the diaphragm and 33 out of 50 (66%) samples from the tongue demonstrated a positive PCR reaction for T. gondii and restriction analysis of four of the positive samples revealed that all had a type I genotype at SAG2. However, when other unlinked loci were analyzed, these strains had a type III genotype at markers BTUB, SAG3, and GRA6. One of the strains (8T) had a type II allele at SAG3, indicating it has a combination of alleles normally seen in the clonal lineages. Our sampling indicates a high prevalence of infection and suggests that unusual genotypes of T. gondii are found in Brazil even among domesticated pigs.

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