Toxoplasma gondii in vegetables from fields and farm storage facilities in the Czech Republic. Issue 14 (31st July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Slany, Michal; Dziedzinska, Radka; Babak, Vladimir; Kralik, Petr; Moravkova, Monika; Slana, Iva
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology letters. Volume 366:Issue 14(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-07-31
• Subjects: Toxoplasma gondii -- vegetable -- farm -- food safety -- qPCR -- genotyping; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579
• DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnz170
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0378-1097

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii has usually been connected with consumption of improperly treated meat. However, contaminated water and products of plant origin have emerged as new sources of infection in the last few years. Here, 292 vegetable samples—carrot, cucumber and lettuce—obtained from nine farms in the Czech Republic were examined using triplex real time PCR targeting two specific T. gondii sequences. Irrigation water and water used for washing of vegetables were also included. Overall, a positivity rate of 9.6% was found in vegetables. The concentration varied between 1.31 × 10 0 and 9.00 × 10 2 oocysts/g of sample. A significant difference was found between the positivity of vegetables collected directly from fields and that of vegetables collected from farm storage rooms (4.4–8.6% vs 10–24.1%, respectively). All samples of irrigation water and water used to rinse vegetables were negative. Genotyping based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using seven markers revealed the exclusive presence of genotype II. Abstract : Washed vegetables from storage rooms showed higher positivity than vegetables from fields.