Investigating the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and determining the knowledge and practices in an interface area in Mpumalanga, South Africa

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate protozoan parasite from the phylum, Apicomplexa, that causes a disease known as Toxoplasmosis, in warm-blooded animals. Although toxoplasmosis is mostly asymptomatic, in immune compromised humans and animals it can lead to a severe disease. Toxoplasma gondii is of global importance and affects approximately 30-50% of the population worldwide. Although it is of worldwide importance, in most African countries including South Africa (SA), information on the national prevalence of T. gondii is limited in people and animals and has not yet been fully investigated and documented. The data was collected using Therefore the data presents the seroprevalence of T. gondii in humans, domestic and wild animals as well as assessing the knowledge of the parasite and associated practices among the human population in an interface area in South Africa. Serum samples were collected by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). Blood samples from chickens, goats and cats were collected from four villages in the area, namely, Athol, Gottenburg, Tlhavekisa and Utah. Initially, systematic sampling was envisaged by sampling households in every second street of these villages. However, due to the lack of availability of informal farmers (household owners), pet owners (household owners) and the targeted livestock and pets in the villages, opportunistic sampling was performed from eligible households per street. All household owners who had informal farms or were pet owners with the targeted animal species were invited to participate in the study. In participating households, a blood sample was collected from targeted animal species. Furthermore, questionnaires (n =384) were conducted in households in the four villages. The questionnaire focused on obtaining information regarding the socio-environmental and husbandry conditions per household as well as knowledge about Toxoplasma. To detect anti-T. gondii antibodies, the MAST® Toxoreagent™ ID rapid latex agglutination commercial kit (Mast Group Ltd., United Kingdom) was used following the manufacturer’s instructions.