Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in traditional types of cheese, butter, and cream presented in Kashan city, Iran

One of the most common parasitic infections of humans and other warm-blooded animals is toxoplasmosis, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Consumption of contaminated food and transmission from mother to fetus is one of the fundamental ways of transmission. Humans get toxoplasmosis by eating dairy products contaminated with Toxoplasma, so this study aims to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii in cheese, butter, and traditional creams presented in Kashan city, Iran using the Nested PCR method. Fifty samples of dairy products, including 30 samples of traditional cheese, 10 samples of traditional cream, and 10 samples of traditional butter, were randomly sampled from supply centers in Kashan city and transferred to the food hygiene laboratory of Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord branch. SPSS version 23 statistical software and a chi-square test were used to analyze the data, and a significant level (p>05.00) was considered. The results showed that 6.7% of the traditional cheeses (2 samples) were infected with Toxoplasma, and the contamination was negative in the traditional cream and butter. Contamination of raw milk and, in parallel, traditional dairy products with Toxoplasma gondii can be indirectly from infected animals or due to non-compliance with health requirements in processes such as milking, handling, storage, and cross-contamination. Therefore, essential sanitization of milk before consumption and then turning it into dairy products is suggested.