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Even though infected sheep are a potential source of Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans, information is lacking concerning the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep in Belgium. We examined 3170 serum samples for anti- Toxoplasma IgG in sheep by total lysate antigen (TLA) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). IgG to T. gondii was demonstrated in 87.4% of the tested sheep and in 96.2% of the 209 tested flocks. The seroprevalences in Antwerp (65.2%) and Wallonia (68.6%) are statistically lower than in the other regions in Belgium (96.7–97.8%) ( P < 0.05). The present study is the first report that analyzed the prevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep in Belgium and confirms the high prevalence of Toxoplasma -specific IgG antibodies in the sheep population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance in noninvasive clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected in Belgium during winter 2008–2007. Method: Four hundred and forty eight unduplicated isolates collected by 15 laboratories were tested by microdilution following CLSI. Results: Insusceptibility rates (I+R) were as follows: penicillin G (PEN) 11.6% (4.0% R), ampicillin 11.4% (4.0% R), amoxicillin+/–clavulanic acid 0, cefaclor 10.3% (9.6% R), cefuroxime 9.2% (8.7% R), cefuroxime-axetil 8.7% (7.8% R), cefotaxime, ceftazidime and cefepime 2.0% (0% R), imipenem 2.5% (0% R), ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin 5.1% (0.4% R), levofloxacin 0.7% (0.4% R), moxifloxacin 0.4% (0.2% R), erythromycin (ERY) 29.7% (29.2% R), azithromycin 29.7% (28.8% R), telithromycin 0%, clindamycin 26.3% (25.4% R) and tetracycline (TET) 21.9% (16.5% R). From 2001 to 2008, a significant decrease in penicillin-insusceptibility (21.0% to 11.6%), penicillin-resistance (9.7% to 4.0%) and ciprofloxacin-insusceptibility (11.2% to 5.1%) was found. Cross-resistance between penicillin and other betalactams in penicillin-insusceptible isolates was incomplete: all these isolates remained fully susceptible to amoxicillin. Erythromycin-insusceptibility was significantly higher in children than in adults (43.9%/27.4%), while penicillin-insusceptibility significantly higher in Brussels than in the Flanders (22.9%/8.1%). The commonest resistance phenotype was ERY-TET (12.7%) followed by ERY (7.4%) and PEN-ERY-TET (5.8%). Capsular types 19 (25%), 14 (19.3%), 23 (15.4%) and 15 (13.5%) were the most important in penicillin-insusceptible. Conclusion: We noted a decrease in resistance to the majority of the compounds. Insusceptibility rates were higher in children than in adults and the difference between the north and the south of Belgium became less marked. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide prevalent, zoonotic parasite of major importance for public health, which can infect any warm-blooded animal species, including humans. Humans can get infected by consumption of meat from a chronically infected animal, by ingestion of sporulated oocysts (resulting from the sexual replication in felids), via contaminated water, soil, or vegetables, and by vertical transmission via the placenta. Infection through meat consumption is estimated to be one of the main sources of human toxoplasmosis cases in developed countries, and more specifically pork is considered to be responsible for 41% of foodborne human toxoplasmosis cases in the United States. To better assess the role of pork as a source of T. gondii infection in humans in Belgium, parasites were isolated from pigs to compare with human clinical isolates in a molecular epidemiological study. A positive result was obtained by magnetic capture-quantitative polymerase chain reaction for T. gondii in 14 out of the 92 hearts sampled during 2016 and 2017 from pigs raised in organic farms. From 9 of these 14 samples, parasites were isolated by mouse bioassay, demonstrating the presence of viable T. gondii in animals intended for human consumption. When genotyped and compared with 15 human isolates obtained during 2015 and 2016, a highly related structured population was demonstrated. Overall, these findings demonstrate the presence of infectious T. gondii in pigs intended for human consumption. Therefore, a potential transmission of T. gondii strains from pigs to humans could occur. However, both species could also be infected via a common source of infection such as oocysts. Furthermore, Belgium does not have an official surveillance program for T. gondii in human cases or food-producing animals; as a consequence, the detection of the infection source of a patient is very rare. Overall, this study reinforces the identification of pork as a potential risk for the consumers.

Sera from Cervidae were tested for the presence of antibodies against Neospora caninum using ELISA; and against Toxoplasma gondii using SAG1-ELISA and a commercially available agglutination test. The T. gondii seroprevalence was 52% (38/73) in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), 0% in bred fallow deer (0/4) (Dama dama) and red deer (0/7) (Cervus elaphus). We found 2.7% of the roe deer samples and none of the bred deer samples positive for N. caninum. Brain samples from wild roe deer, red deer and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) were tested for the presence of T. gondii and N. caninum DNA using multiplex real-time PCR. We detected T. gondii in 18.8% (57/304) of the red foxes and in 1 of the 33 deer samples. N. caninum was found in 6.6% of the red foxes and in 2 roe deer samples. Twenty-six of the T. gondii positive DNA extracts from the red fox samples were genotyped. Twenty-five were type II and only one was found to be type III., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Five hundred and sixty seven sera of healthy house cats aged 3 months to 7 years, were examined for the presence of anti-toxoplasma antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay and compared to SAG1 and TLA enzyme linked immunosorbent assays as alternative test. Twenty-five percent of cats tested positive for IgG and/or IgM. Seroprevalence increased with age from 2% below 12 months of age up to 44% at age 7. Sensitivities of SAG1 and TLA ELISA were 84.1% and 88.6%, respectively. Peak levels in seroprevalence were correlated to increased IgG titers in TLA ELISA. Our results suggest that T. gondii infections are common in house cats and that there is a high chance for a negative cat to seroconvert in its second life-year.