Toxoplasma gondii in Circumpolar People and Wildlife

Authors

Stacey A. Elmore, University of SaskatchewanFollow
Emily J. Jenkins, University of SaskatchewanFollow
Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Colorado State University - Fort CollinsFollow
Lydden Polley, University of SaskatchewanFollow
J. Jeffrey Root, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Chester G. Moore, Colorado State University - Fort Collins

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Vector-Borne And Zoonotic Diseases 12(1) 2012; DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2011.0705

Abstract

Despite extensive worldwide surveillance in populations of both people and wildlife, relatively little is known about Toxoplasma gondii ecology in the circumpolar north. Many northern animals and people demonstrate exposure to T. gondii, but the apparent low densities of domestic or wild felids suggest that additional transmission mechanisms are responsible for T. gondii persistence in high latitudes, whether remote source (from another region), vertical, or dietary. People in these northern communities who practice subsistence hunting might have an increased infection risk due to traditional food preparation techniques and frequent handling of wild game. Recent advances in T. gondii genotyping, understanding of host–parasite relationships, and increased human and wildlife surveillance will help to address knowledge gaps about parasite evolution, distribution, and abundance throughout the Arctic and Subarctic.