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Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common zoonotic parasitic diseases infecting nearly all warm-blooded animals, including poultry (geese, turkeys, chickens, and ducks). It is caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which is an obligate intracellular protozoan belonging to the Apicomplexa group. In T...

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Autores principales: Nguyen, Thi Thuy, Kamyingkird, Ketsarin, Jam-on, Rungrot, Phimpraphai, Waraphon, Panomwan, Pun, Hehl, Adrian B., Inpankaew, Tawin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9959235/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36828519
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8020103
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author Nguyen, Thi Thuy
Kamyingkird, Ketsarin
Jam-on, Rungrot
Phimpraphai, Waraphon
Panomwan, Pun
Hehl, Adrian B.
Inpankaew, Tawin
author_facet Nguyen, Thi Thuy
Kamyingkird, Ketsarin
Jam-on, Rungrot
Phimpraphai, Waraphon
Panomwan, Pun
Hehl, Adrian B.
Inpankaew, Tawin
author_sort Nguyen, Thi Thuy
collection PubMed
description Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common zoonotic parasitic diseases infecting nearly all warm-blooded animals, including poultry (geese, turkeys, chickens, and ducks). It is caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which is an obligate intracellular protozoan belonging to the Apicomplexa group. In Thailand, duck meat production for domestic consumption and international trade is mainly bred and produced in the central and western parts of the country. Free-grazing ducks in integrated duck–rice production have significant benefits in rice cultivation, accounting for the popularity of this farming system in Thailand. However, ducks are considered particularly susceptible to consuming T. gondii oocysts from water contaminated with cat feces due to the fact of their feeding habits of free-grazing and dabbling. Hence, the prevalence of this zoonotic parasite in a large-scale integrated farming context is particularly challenging with respect to the contamination of the food chain of humans and farm animals. In the present study, we examined the overall prevalence of T. gondii infection in slaughtered free-grazing ducks originating from Central and Western Thailand, setting the stage for an in-depth One Health approach to assess and manage the risks of integrated farming practices. A representative sample size of 161 ducks was calculated using a two-stage sampling method. Specifically, serum samples were collected from 217 slaughtered free-grazing ducks originating in six provinces in Central and Western Thailand. Serum antibodies against T. gondii were detected using an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). The positive control serum samples were prepared from ducks experimentally immunized with T. gondii. Sixty-eight (31.3%) of the two hundred and seventeen ducks were seropositive with T. gondii. Two groups of fattening ducks and spent layers showed similar seropositivity rates at 29% and 32.3%, with the majority of positive samples being found in the low titer. In addition, a wide distribution of positive serum samples was observed in all six provinces in the present study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a serological prevalence snapshot in commercially produced duck populations that have high interaction with farmed environments in Thailand, revealing a high infection pressure in areas of integrated duck–rice farming. Importantly, contaminated duck meat for commercial use, as well as offal and carcasses from slaughterhouses, completes the transmission of T. gondii from the environment into the food chain of humans and domestic animals. Hence, from a One Health perspective, it is important to clarify whether this transmission chain extends further to the wild, i.e., predator–prey cycles that are independent of duck farming or are self-contained.
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spelling pubmed-99592352023-02-26 Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming Nguyen, Thi Thuy Kamyingkird, Ketsarin Jam-on, Rungrot Phimpraphai, Waraphon Panomwan, Pun Hehl, Adrian B. Inpankaew, Tawin Trop Med Infect Dis Communication Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common zoonotic parasitic diseases infecting nearly all warm-blooded animals, including poultry (geese, turkeys, chickens, and ducks). It is caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which is an obligate intracellular protozoan belonging to the Apicomplexa group. In Thailand, duck meat production for domestic consumption and international trade is mainly bred and produced in the central and western parts of the country. Free-grazing ducks in integrated duck–rice production have significant benefits in rice cultivation, accounting for the popularity of this farming system in Thailand. However, ducks are considered particularly susceptible to consuming T. gondii oocysts from water contaminated with cat feces due to the fact of their feeding habits of free-grazing and dabbling. Hence, the prevalence of this zoonotic parasite in a large-scale integrated farming context is particularly challenging with respect to the contamination of the food chain of humans and farm animals. In the present study, we examined the overall prevalence of T. gondii infection in slaughtered free-grazing ducks originating from Central and Western Thailand, setting the stage for an in-depth One Health approach to assess and manage the risks of integrated farming practices. A representative sample size of 161 ducks was calculated using a two-stage sampling method. Specifically, serum samples were collected from 217 slaughtered free-grazing ducks originating in six provinces in Central and Western Thailand. Serum antibodies against T. gondii were detected using an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). The positive control serum samples were prepared from ducks experimentally immunized with T. gondii. Sixty-eight (31.3%) of the two hundred and seventeen ducks were seropositive with T. gondii. Two groups of fattening ducks and spent layers showed similar seropositivity rates at 29% and 32.3%, with the majority of positive samples being found in the low titer. In addition, a wide distribution of positive serum samples was observed in all six provinces in the present study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a serological prevalence snapshot in commercially produced duck populations that have high interaction with farmed environments in Thailand, revealing a high infection pressure in areas of integrated duck–rice farming. Importantly, contaminated duck meat for commercial use, as well as offal and carcasses from slaughterhouses, completes the transmission of T. gondii from the environment into the food chain of humans and domestic animals. Hence, from a One Health perspective, it is important to clarify whether this transmission chain extends further to the wild, i.e., predator–prey cycles that are independent of duck farming or are self-contained. MDPI 2023-02-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9959235/ /pubmed/36828519 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8020103 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Communication
Nguyen, Thi Thuy
Kamyingkird, Ketsarin
Jam-on, Rungrot
Phimpraphai, Waraphon
Panomwan, Pun
Hehl, Adrian B.
Inpankaew, Tawin
Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title_full Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title_fullStr Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title_full_unstemmed Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title_short Serological Detection of Toxoplasma gondii among Free-Grazing Ducks from Central and Western Thailand—A One Health Perspective on Integrated Farming
title_sort serological detection of toxoplasma gondii among free-grazing ducks from central and western thailand—a one health perspective on integrated farming
topic Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9959235/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36828519
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8020103
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