Toxoplasma gondii contamination in fresh vegetables destined for human and livestock consumption in Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam

Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonosis that shows severe symptoms in immunocompromised patients. High seroprevalences of toxoplasmosis were found in cats, humans, and pigs in traditional farms in Thua Thien Hue province. The main sources of infections remain unknown, thus making toxoplasmosis neglected and uncontrollable in this region. This study aimed to determine T. gondii contamination in vegetables used for human and livestock consumption and its spatial distribution in Thua Thien Hue rural areas. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate T. gondii contamination in vegetables grown in households in three different geographic regions. The pathogen DNA was detected from vegetable samples using a primer pair that is highly specific for the 529-bp repetitive element found in T. gondii genome. In this study, 55 out of 221 (24.9%) vegetable samples were positive for T. gondii using PCR. Factors, including location, presence of fence in the garden, owning cats, and treatment of feed for cats, were not significantly associated with T. gondii contamination in vegetables according to the logistic regression. However, vegetables collected in households that have no fence for vegetable gardens, own cats, and feed cats raw or undercooked foods tend to be more heavily contaminated than others. Furthermore, a wide distribution of infected vegetables was observed in all investigated districts, showing a high infection pressure in these residential areas. This is the first report of vegetables contaminated with T. gondii in Vietnam, which reveals an overlooked health risk for humans and animals