Table 1.
Reports documenting the detection and prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in soil.
| Country/region (reference) | Location (urban/rural) | Oocyst recovery method | Detection method (gene target) | Sample size and prevalence | Sequence confirmation | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France/Lyon (Afonso et al. 2008) |
Urban | Sucrose flotation | Real-time PCR (529-bp RE) |
N = 117 9.4% |
NR | T. gondii DNA most commonly detected in cat latrines |
| Poland/Tricity (Lass et al., 2009) |
Urban | Sodium nitrate flotation | Conventional PCR (B1) |
N = 101 17.8% |
Yes (two random samples) | Type I and II genotypes detected |
| China/Hubei Province (Du et al., 2012b) |
Urban | NR | Conventional PCR (B1 and 529-bp RE); LAMP (MIC3) |
N = 252 PCR:16.3% LAMP: 23.02% |
Yes (four random samples) | Significantly lower T. gondii DNA detected in Fall and Winter |
| China/Hubei Province (Du et al., 2012a) |
Rural | NR | Conventional PCR (B1); LAMP (MIC3) |
N = 95 PCR: 21.1% LAMP: 37.9% |
NR | |
| France/Northeastern (Gotteland et al., 2014) |
Rural | Modified sucrose flotation (Lélu et al., 2011): sugar-water interface used | Real-time PCR (529-bp RE) |
N = 243 29.2% |
NR | T. gondii DNA was not restricted to areas of high cat density |
| China/Nanjing Region (Liu et al., 2017) |
Rural | NR | Conventional PCR (ITS1) |
N = 700 1% |
Yes (all) | T. gondii only detected during Fall (3.3%) and Winter (0.56%) |
| China/Gansu province (Wu et al., 2017) |
Urban | Suspension in distilled water | Nested PCR (B1); LF-RPA (B1) |
N = 35 Nested PCR: 14.3% LF-RPA: 14.3% |
Yes (all) | |
| France/Northeastern (Simon et al., 2017) |
Rural | Modified sucrose flotation (Lélu et al., 2011): entire supernatant used | Real-time PCR (529-bp RE) |
N = 558 49.82% |
NR | T. gondii detected near core cat colony areas; and associated with latrines and scattered feces, as compared with random soil samples |
| USA/O'ahu (Davis et al., 2018) |
Urban and rural | Modified sucrose flotation method (Lélu et al., 2011) | Conventional PCR (GRA6) |
N = 120 0% |
NR | T. gondii not detected in soil samples. |
| USA/California (de Wit et al., in preparation 2019) |
Urban | Modified sucrose flotation method (Lélu et al., 2011) | Nested PCR (ITS-1) | N = 482 5.6% |
Yes (all) | T. gondii detection associated with wet season, coastal sites, and small cat colony size. |
NR = not reported; PCR = polymerase chain reaction; LAMP = loop-mediated isothermal amplification; LF-RPA = lateral flow recombinase polymerase amplification.