Results of five years monitoring for Toxoplasma gondii infection in animals by the official Italian Zoonoses Informative System (SINZOO)
Creators: name: Castello, Annamaria
name: Percipalle, Maurizio
name: Giunta, Renato Paolo
name: Salvaggio, Antonio
name: Scalzo, Fabrizio
name: Marino, Anna Maria Fausta
Publisher: name: INFN Open Access Repository
Year: 2021
Subjects: Incidence, Epidemiology, Policy and practice, Risk assessment, Foodborne diseases, Infectious diseases

description: In order to drive effective public health preventive measures for human toxoplasmosis a scrupulous epidemiological monitoring of animal toxoplasmosis is essential. BACKGROUND AND AIM:<em>T. gondii</em> is the fourth most important parasite in the world and second out of 14 foodborne pathogens in the USA and in Europe. Meat-borne transmission of <em>T. gondii</em> causes most of food-borne infections in Europe (EFSA-European Food Safety Authority). SINZOO is part of the Veterinary Informative System of the Italian Ministry of Health. It collects and transmit data to EFSA, published in the annual EFSA/ECDC summary reports on zoonoses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of SINZOO for epidemiological surveillance of toxoplasmosis in Italy.<br> METHODS:Among animal species tested in Italy between 2015 and 2019 the ones most commonly reared for human consumption (sheep, cattle, pig, goats) were selected, moreover wild boars, wild ruminants, cats.<br> RESULTS:Infection rates ranged from 0.73% in wild boars to 45.72% in sheep. Total number of tested animals ranged from 37 pigs in 2015 to 3449 sheep in 2018. Besides a relevant incidence among wild boars in 2018 (45%) and 2019 (32%), higher infection rates were more often reported among sheep and pigs. Between 2018 and 2019 67% of the overall analyses were carried out in one region (Sardinia), mostly on one species (sheep) and emerged from targeted research or clinical investigation. In fact in 2019 83.45% of analyses were performed following clinical suspicions while only 8.43% came from official controls, highlighting toxoplasmosis underestimation by the national veterinary health system.<br> CONCLUSIONS:Despite EFSA recognizes the relevance of toxoplasmosis, this is not included among zoonoses under mandatory notification, making animal epidemiological surveillance rather scarce and uneven. Data reported to SINZOO suggest that <em>T. gondii</em> is still a relevant hazard to monitor by meat inspection and in-farm survey, for effective epidemiological evaluations and appropriate public health interventions. This issue characterizes Italy and Europe, highlighting that toxoplasmosis monitoring should be made mandatory and with uniform rules.<br>
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