Sero-prevalence of toxoplasma gondii infection among abattoir workers in Sokoto, Nigeria

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease affecting all warm blooded animals including man. It is caused by an obligate, intracellular tissues cyst-forming protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, with domestic cat and other felides as definitive hosts. The infection has aroused considerable interest from various workers because of the dangers it poses and its mode oftransmission. Materials and Methods: Sera collected from 75 volunteered abattoir workers were analysed using Toxo-Latex kit by LINEAR chemicals (Cromatest, Jeanquim Costa, Barcelona, Spain) which is a rapid slide agglutination procedure. In addition, some epidemiological factors were obtained from these volunteered through structural questionnaire administered to them. Results: The adolescent (16-20 years) had the highest prevalence (57.1%) while the elderly, aged > 60 years had prevalence of 50%. No statistical significant different was however observed (p >0.05) varying degree of infarction was observed between the old groups. Sero-prevalence among workers who eat raw meat/suya, drink unpasteurized milk, smoking/eating when evisceration were 50%, 26.7%, 13.8%, 13.8% and 20% respectively, while workers that do not eat/drink during evisceration was 13.3%. No statistical significance was noted between those who eat raw meat/suya/drink unpasteurized milk and those who eat and drink during evisceration was significantly higher than those that wash hand before eating/drinking during work (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There is need for public enlightenment to abattoir personnel on the epidemiology and significance of T. gondii infection. Further studies on toxoplasma infection in the study area are desirable.