Ye Tong, Li Xue-Min, Tan Wen-Xu, Wang Chuan-Long, Jiang Jing, Zhao Quan
College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
College of Life Science, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Shuangyang, 130600, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
Acta Parasitol. 2025 Aug 7;70(4):167. doi: 10.1007/s11686-025-01108-w.
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by T. gondii, a widely distributed obligate intracellular parasite. It has received widespread attention because it can infect a large number of domestic and wild animals, thereby posing a threat to public health and the economy on a global scale. Among them, equine animals are critical intermediate hosts. However, studies on T. gondii infection in equine animals are currently not systematic on a global scale. For this purpose, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This study searched for relevant studies in six significant databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Wanfang database, VIP database and CNKI database). From 1099 articles, we selected 30 articles from 17 countries published from the database creation to July 1, 2023, and used a random-effects model to estimate the T. gondii infection rate in equids.
The global infection rate of T. gondii in equids was estimated at 15.0% (2539/15,882, 95% CI 14.0-15.0%). The infection rate was highest in Africa (25.5%) and lowest in North America (8.4%). The infection rate after 2016 (24.0%) was higher than that before 2016 (14.6%). The infection rate was highest in equids aged 5-10 years (20.3%). Among equids, donkeys had the highest overall infection rate at 23.4%, which was higher than that of horses (15.8%) and mules (16.8%). The infection rate among female equine animals (17.5%) is higher than that among males (13.9%). These data indicate that T. gondii is widespread among equine animals globally, posing a potential infection risk to humans. Therefore, continuous monitoring of toxoplasmosis infection rates and control of T. gondii transmission are of great significance for both economic and public health.
弓形虫病是由刚地弓形虫引起的一种人畜共患传染病，刚地弓形虫是一种广泛分布的专性细胞内寄生虫。它受到了广泛关注，因为它能感染大量家畜和野生动物，从而在全球范围内对公共卫生和经济构成威胁。其中，马属动物是重要的中间宿主。然而，目前全球范围内关于马属动物弓形虫感染的研究并不系统。为此，我们进行了一项系统综述和荟萃分析。
本研究在六个重要数据库（PubMed、Web of Science、ScienceDirect、万方数据库、维普数据库和中国知网数据库）中检索相关研究。从1099篇文章中，我们从17个国家选取了从数据库创建到2023年7月1日发表的30篇文章，并使用随机效应模型估计马属动物的弓形虫感染率。
全球马属动物的弓形虫感染率估计为15.0%（2539/15882，95%可信区间14.0 - 15.0%）。感染率在非洲最高（25.5%），在北美最低（8.4%）。2016年后的感染率（24.0%）高于2016年前（14.6%）。5 - 10岁的马属动物感染率最高（20.3%）。在马属动物中，驴的总体感染率最高，为23.4%，高于马（15.8%）和骡（16.8%）。雌性马属动物的感染率（17.5%）高于雄性（13.9%）。这些数据表明，弓形虫在全球马属动物中广泛存在，对人类构成潜在感染风险。因此，持续监测弓形虫病感染率并控制弓形虫传播对经济和公共卫生都具有重要意义。
