Since buffalo meat, has been demonstrated to be a potential source of human infection, a careful evaluation of the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in this meat is needed. Tissue cysts of Toxoplasma gondii are frequently found in the skeletal muscles of buffaloes. This study evaluated the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in the meat juice of buffalo meat samples via several diagnostic techniques to protect public health. Peptic digestion, histopathology, and serology were performed on meat juice from 100 buffalo meat samples from local butchers and retail beef markets. Eighteen samples (18%) were suspected of the presence of bradyzoites after digestion, and were subjected to histopathology which illustrated that only six samples (6%) were suspected to be Toxoplasma tissue cysts. After that periodic acid Schiff (PAS) stain confirmed that only three samples (3%) were Toxoplasma. Finally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) asserted that those three samples were Toxoplasma gondii. This study provides significant evidence about risk of human exposure to Toxoplasma through the consumption of raw or undercooked buffalo meat potentially contaminated with infectious tissue cysts.
Key words: Buffalo meat; Toxoplasma gondii; Meat juice; Serology.
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