[irrawnWab]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...m-8102860.html

Does Australia collect / collate /publish this kind of information?

When discussed on Scribbly in the past I've got the impression the risk is over-stated.

Exerpts:




A parasite spread by cats is infecting 1,000 new people every day in Britain –...

Click here to see 'Feline menace: Life cycle of Toxoplasma Gondii' graphic

...

Toxoplasma infections come either through direct contact with cats or from eating contaminated meat or vegetables, tests on British blood donors have revealed.

......

Some experts call in The Independent today for the condition to be made a notifiable disease in England and Wales –...
...

About 80 per cent of infected people show no obvious symptoms ...

...
Although pregnant women and patients with compromised immune systems are warned to avoid pink meat, the FSA's chief scientist, Andrew Wadge, said that it is safe for people to serve lamb rare, even though one study found that two thirds of lamb samples from one

"Toxoplasma infects a lot of people but only has an impact in terms of lifestyle on a small proportion of them," Dr Holliman said.

"Toxoplasma is more important, or as important as salmonella and campylobacter, which affect a lot of people. Toxoplasma affects a few people but when it does affect them it can be devastating. A child born with congenital toxoplasma is damaged for life," he said.

[rockboyzaza]

I have had it. But I would never have known if it hadn't been tested for in a wide ranging blood test. I am not aware of any problems that it has caused.

[ValintinoV]

I have had it. But I would never have known if it hadn't been tested for in a wide ranging blood test. I am not aware of any problems that it has caused.

Never felt like climbing into the big cat enclosure at the zoo?

[Enjoymmsq]

Victorian statutory requirement

Notification and school exclusion are not required.

http://ideas.health.vic.gov.au/blueb...oplasmosis.asp

More info at link...

[casinobonusa]

It's generally know thought that toxo is at very low levels in intensive pork, however the OIE have raised the trend towards free range and organic as being at increased risk of infection with toxo and other zoonoses...

[Buhoutsoupfap]

It's generally know thought that toxo is at very low levels in intensive pork, however the OIE have raised the trend towards free range and organic as being at increased risk of infection with toxo and other zoonoses..

---

Ref?

[Daruhuw]

It's generally know thought that toxo is at very low levels in intensive pork, however the OIE have raised the trend towards free range and organic as being at increased risk of infection with toxo and other zoonoses...

very low levels in intensive pork because it is harder to ingest the occytes when they are not allowed the freedom to root around in the sunshine on soil?

[Cgnebksb]

It's generally know thought that toxo is at very low levels in intensive pork, however the OIE have raised the trend towards free range and organic as being at increased risk of infection with toxo and other zoonoses..

---

Ref?

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/6/845.abstract

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis can be due to congenital infection or acquired infection after birth and is one of the leading illnesses associated with foodborne hospitalizations and deaths. Undercooked meat, especially pork, lamb, and wild game meat, and soil contaminated with cat feces on raw fruits and vegetables are the major sources of foodborne transmission for humans. The new trend in the production of free-range organically raised meat could increase the risk of Toxoplasma gondii contamination of meat. Foodborne transmission can be prevented by production practices that reduce T. gondii in meat, adequate cooking of meat, washing of raw fruits and vegetables, prevention of cross contamination in the kitchen, and measures that decrease spread of viable oocysts into the environment.


Infected Meat

In the United States, poultry, pork, and beef are the main meats consumed. In a recent nationwide study of the prevalence of T. gondii in retail meat, viable organisms were isolated from only 7 of 2094 pork samples and none of 2094 beef or 2094 chicken samples [10]. However, parasitological surveys based on retail meat samples do not provide a true assessment of risk from fresh meat because nearly half of the pork and a substantial amount of chicken are injected with salts and water, which can kill T. gondii tissue cysts [11]; the product is labeled with the ingredients of the treatments and the term “enhanced” meat may also be used [10]. Further, most retail chicken sold in the United States is frozen, which also kills T. gondii cysts. In this section, we will discuss meat sources of T. gondii for humans.

...

Kijlstra et al. [13] found that 0 of 621 conventionally raised pigs were seropositive for T. gondii, while 38 of 1295 (2.9%) pigs raised in “animal friendly” management systems were seropositive for T. gondii. Recently, viable T. gondii was isolated from 17 of 33 organically raised pigs from Michigan [14] (Table 1).

...

In contrast to the bioassay results, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 1.3% of the juice extracted from the breast meat from the 2094 chicken samples obtained at retail stores using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which suggests that T. gondii can occur in commercially marketed chickens in the United States, although the bioassay results from the retail meat survey [10] indicate that the risk from commercial chicken is small. The recent trend of consumers demanding meat from organically grown free range poultry will probably increase the prevalence of T. gondii in chickens consumed by humans. Unlike indoor raised chickens, the prevalence of T. gondii in free-range chickens is very high (United States, 17%–100%) [16].





[16] Zoonoses Public Health. 2010 Feb;57(1):60-73. Epub 2009 Sep 10.

Toxoplasma gondii infections in chickens (Gallus domesticus): prevalence, clinical disease, diagnosis and public health significance.

Dubey JP.

Abstract

Chickens are considered one of the most important hosts in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection because they are an efficient source of infection for cats that excrete the environmentally resistant oocysts and because humans may become infected with this parasite after eating undercooked infected chicken meat. The objective of this study is to review worldwide prevalence of T. gondii infection in chickens and to assess the role of infected chickens in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in humans. A very high prevalence of the parasite was found in chickens raised in backyards (up to 100%) and free-range organic (30-50%) establishments.

[loyalgagora]

very low levels in intensive pork because it is harder to ingest the occytes when they are not allowed the freedom to root around in the sunshine on soil?

One of the reasons why we moved poultry and pork production inside was to be able to control variables involved in food safety and animal health... worked for Foot and Mouth Disease in the UK and for Swine Fever in East Anglia as well...

[Toninvell]

One of the reasons why we moved poultry and pork production inside was to be able to control variables involved in food safety and animal health... worked for Foot and Mouth Disease in the UK and for Swine Fever in East Anglia as well...

>:/ my thoughts on this subject are very well known i believe. i shouldn't have responded in the first place.

thankyou for your reply.

[loginereQQ]

>:/ my thoughts on this subject are very well known i believe. i shouldn't have responded in the first place.

thankyou for your reply.

No problem...

[VotsUtegems]

I don't know if it says anything about the French way of life, but 65% of French women will have been exposed to toxoplasmosis at the time of childbirth.

[wmhardware]

I don't know if it says anything about the French way of life, but 65% of French women will have been exposed to toxoplasmosis at the time of childbirth.

one of my earlier references say 75% of Australian women are susceptible... don't know if the numbers are similar, but I wouldn't be surprised, it seems to be generally clinically insignificant outside of gestation...

[vladekad]

The seroprevalence level in the United States is about 60% in those around 60 years (Mead et al. 1999), but there is wide regional variability. In people 40-50 years of age in France, 90% have positive serology, in Japan 12.5% and in Holland 60% (Wu & Garcia 2003). A distribution of variability of the estimate of seroprevalence in Australia was taken as a ‘plausible range’ of about 12% to 90%, with a central estimate of 60%. The rate was based on this as 0.6% (95% CrI: 0.12-0.9%) of the population were infected each year. This was applied to the Australian population and 15% were assumed to be symptomatic cases. The distribution of the estimate of the proportion of foodborne toxoplasmosis was based on the Delphi results, with mean 35% and SD 0.18. The resultant uncertainty in the estimate of incidence of symptomatic cases in Australia is high, with a central estimate of 5,862 new cases per year.

http://www.ozfoodnet.gov.au/internet...ss-appa-11.htm

[Juersdodfs]

I don't know if it says anything about the French way of life, but 65% of French women will have been exposed to toxoplasmosis at the time of childbirth.

It has been recorded that the high percentage of French women infected with toxoplasmosis is due largely to their liking of undercooked (pink) meat, particularly pork.

[echocassidyde]

It has been recorded that the high percentage of French women infected with toxoplasmosis is due largely to their liking of undercooked (pink) meat, particularly pork.

Now that you mention it, IME they do have a liking for very undercooked meat.

[brorwargy]

Thanks pigman; exactly the sort of info I needed to read.
Thanks all.

[Menierofe]

It has been recorded that the high percentage of French women infected with toxoplasmosis is due largely to their liking of undercooked (pink) meat, particularly pork.

A large multicentre European study found that pork had a lower risk than other meats as a source of toxo infection.

http://www.bmj.com/content/321/7254/142

Meat - Odds ratio

Dry to cured meat - 0.82
Salami - 1.31
Frozen meat - 0.77
Raw/undercooked pork - 1.40
Raw/undercooked beef - 1.73
Raw/undercooked lamb - 3.73
Other meat (game) - 4.12

[iodillalm]

A large multicentre European study found that pork had a lower risk than other meats as a source of toxo infection.

http://www.bmj.com/content/321/7254/142

Meat - Odds ratio

Dry to cured meat - 0.82
Salami - 1.31
Frozen meat - 0.77
Raw/undercooked pork - 1.40
Raw/undercooked beef - 1.73
Raw/undercooked lamb - 3.73
Other meat (game) - 4.12

Interesting. It was lamb in particular that stuck in my memory as being served very undercooked.

[AcecePesFeacy]

The official advice in the article in the OP is that lamb undercooked has been OKed for some time (as distinct from the other meats) as not being an issue .. it was one of the things being challenged.