Toxoplasma gondii dans la viande au détail au Canada : prévalence, quantification et facteurs de risque dans une perspective de santé publique
The consumption of raw or undercooked meat is a route of transmission of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) to humans whose public health impact is little known. In a human exposition assessment perspective, we characterized the presence of T. gondii in retail meat in Canada by the estimation of prevalences, risk factors and amounts of parasites per serving. A total of 302 samples of lamb, 363 pork and 330 beef were collected in food stores across the country. Lamb and pork were tested by ELISA. All seropositive samples and all beef samples were tested by magnetic capture polymerase chain reaction (MC-PCR). Among pork and beef samples, 0.3% and 0.6% were T. gondii positive, respectively. Prevalences of 11.1%, 4.3% and 5.4% were found in lamb meat purchased in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario respectively, with generally more than 4000 parasites.  Multivariate logistic regression identified lamb meat as being more at risk to contain T. gondii compared to beef (OR=13.9, p<0.001) and pork (OR= 33.3, p<0.001). Ground lamb meat compared to other cuts (OR=3.2, p<0.001) and lamb from New Zealand compared to Australia (OR=12.3, p<0.001) were also identified as risk factors. These data are essential to the development of quantitative models for assessing the risk of toxoplasmosis by meat consumption and therefore guide its management in Canada.
Toxoplasma gondii Quantification MC-PCR Boeuf Prevalence Risk factors Pork Lamb Beef Public health Risk assessment