Recently acquired Toxoplasma gondii infection, Brazil

Soil exposure, eating undercooked meat, and having children are risk factors for acute infection and high rate of eye disease.
The city of Erechim, Brazil, has a 17% prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis, and type 1 Toxoplasma gondii predominates. To examine risk factors for acute T. gondii infection in this area, we administered a questionnaire to recently infected persons (n = 131) and seronegative controls (n = 110). Eating undercooked meat; having a garden; working in the garden or yard more than once per week; eating rare meat; eating cured, dried, or smoked meat; eating frozen lamb; and being male increased risk for T. gondii infection in univariate analysis. Risk factors independently associated with acute T. gondii infection in multivariate analysis were working in the garden (odds ratio [OR] 2.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27–4.33) and eating frozen lamb (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.15–3.67). Among women (n = 86), having had children markedly increased the risk for T. gondii infection (OR 14.94, 95% CI 3.68–60.73).