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Toxoplasmosis in the Caribbean islands: literature review, seroprevalence in pregnant women in ten countries, isolation of viable Toxoplasma gondii from dogs from St. Kitts, West Indies with report of new T. gondii genetic types

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Abstract

Little is currently known of clinical toxoplasmosis in humans and animals in the Caribbean. We investigated the prevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies in 437 pregnant women from 10 English speaking Caribbean countries. Overall, antibodies (IgG) to Toxoplasma gondii (modified agglutination test, MAT, cut-off 1:6) were found in 174 (39.8 %) of 437 human sera; specifically 12 of 38 from Antigua-Barbuda, 26 of 52 from Belize, 9 of 50 from Bermuda, 29 of 49 from Dominica, 18 of 49 from Grenada, 16 of 47 from Jamaica, 5 of 15 from Montserrat, 8 of 44 from St. Kitts/Nevis, 24 of 45 from St. Lucia, and 27 of 50 from St. Vincent/Grenadines were seropositive. All IgG-positive sera were tested for IgM antibodies using the immunocapture method; all sera were negative for IgM antibodies. Additionally, tissues and sera of 45 dogs from St. Kitts were examined for T. gondii infection. Antibodies (IgG, MAT, 1:≥25) were found in 19 (42.2 %) of 45 dogs. Muscle samples (tongue, leg) of 19 seropositive dogs were digested in pepsin, and homogenates were bioassayed in mice. Viable T. gondii were isolated from 6 dogs. T. gondii isolates were further propagated in cell culture. PCR-RFLP genotyping of cell culture derived tachyzoites using 10 genetic markers, SAG1, SAG2 (5′ and 3′ SAG2, and alt.SAG2) SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico revealed that 4 isolates were ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype #2, and 2 were new genotypes #264 and #265. Review of 22 viable T. gondii isolates from chickens, dogs, and cats from Grenada and St. Kitts revealed that 1 isolate was type II, 13 were type III, and 8 were atypical. Thus, type III strains were predominant. Overall, the study revealed high prevalence of T. gondii in the Caribbean islands.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Matt McMillan, Binh Ho-Thanh, and Oliver Kwok for technical assistance with the dog study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA

    Jitender P. Dubey & Shiv Kumar Verma

  2. Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Biological Ressource Centre Toxoplasma, EA 3800, University Reims Champagne Ardenne and Hôpital Maison Blanche, 45 rue Cognacq-Jay, Cedex 51092, Reims, France

    Isabelle Villena, Dominique Aubert & Régine Geers

  3. Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996-0845, USA

    Chunlei Su

  4. Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies

    Elise Lee & Rosina C. Krecek

  5. Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, St. George’s University, P.0. Box 7, St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies

    Martin S. Forde

  6. Veterinary Pathobiology, College of School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University One Health Initiative, College Station, TX, 77845, USA

    Rosina C. Krecek

  7. Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland, South Africa

    Rosina C. Krecek

Authors
  1. Jitender P. Dubey
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  2. Shiv Kumar Verma
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  3. Isabelle Villena
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  4. Dominique Aubert
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  5. Régine Geers
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  6. Chunlei Su
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  7. Elise Lee
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  8. Martin S. Forde
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  9. Rosina C. Krecek
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Correspondence to Jitender P. Dubey.

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Dubey, J.P., Verma, S.K., Villena, I. et al. Toxoplasmosis in the Caribbean islands: literature review, seroprevalence in pregnant women in ten countries, isolation of viable Toxoplasma gondii from dogs from St. Kitts, West Indies with report of new T. gondii genetic types. Parasitol Res 115, 1627–1634 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4900-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4900-6

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