Maqsood Tooba, Shahzad Khuram, Naz Shumaila, Simsek Sami, Afzal Muhammad Sohail, Ali Shahzad, Ahmed Haroon, Cao Jianping
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Nov 18;8:751130. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.751130. eCollection 2021.
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by , a protozoan that infects warm-blooded animals and humans. Approximately one third of the global population is infected by . We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the risk factors and One Health knowledge of toxoplasmosis in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. From July through December 2020, we collected data using questionnaires. The results showed that 60% of participants had heard or read about the disease, 23.3% of participants had no knowledge about the disease, and 16.8% participants were not sure about the disease. More than half of the participants (53.3%) reported that toxoplasmosis was caused by toxins, 5.3% reported that toxoplasmosis was an animal disease, 13.8% reported that toxoplasmosis was a human disease, 65.8% reported that it was both an animal and human disease, and 15.3% reported that it was neither an animal nor a human disease. Approximately 80.5% of participants reported that individuals acquired toxoplasmosis by changing cat litter. Our study findings revealed a low level of knowledge and awareness about toxoplasmosis among males. Therefore, there should be awareness programs to educate individuals about the risks of this deadly disease and to provide information on the major routes of transmission.
弓形虫病是一种人畜共患疾病，由一种原生动物引起，这种原生动物会感染温血动物和人类。全球约三分之一的人口感染了这种原生动物。我们进行了一项横断面研究，以评估巴基斯坦拉瓦尔品第和伊斯兰堡弓形虫病的风险因素及“同一健康”知识。在2020年7月至12月期间，我们通过问卷调查收集数据。结果显示，60%的参与者听说或读过这种疾病，23.3%的参与者对这种疾病一无所知，16.8%的参与者不确定这种疾病。超过一半的参与者（53.3%）报告称弓形虫病是由毒素引起的，5.3%报告称弓形虫病是一种动物疾病，13.8%报告称弓形虫病是一种人类疾病，65.8%报告称它既是动物疾病也是人类疾病，15.3%报告称它既不是动物疾病也不是人类疾病。约80.5%的参与者报告称个体通过更换猫砂感染弓形虫病。我们的研究结果显示男性对弓形虫病的知识水平和认知程度较低。因此，应该开展宣传项目，教育人们了解这种致命疾病的风险，并提供主要传播途径的信息。
