Retail Sheep Meat as a Potential Source of Toxoplasma gondii: A Molecular Survey in Aksaray Province, Türkiye

Hatice Berna Poçan; Özge Oktay Ayan; Burçak Aslan Çelik; Özgür Yaşar Çelik; Muhammed Yasul; Adnan Ayan; Ali Bilgin Yılmaz; İlker Çamkerten; Mustafa Ardıç

doi:10.24925/turjaf.v14i6.1483-1487.8418

Authors

Hatice Berna Poçan Department of Food Processing, Çumra Vocational School, Selçuk University, Konya, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2094-3685
Özge Oktay Ayan Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2577-3774
Burçak Aslan Çelik Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Siirt University, Siirt, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0130-970X
Özgür Yaşar Çelik Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Siirt University, Siirt, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6365-2688
Muhammed Yasul Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7948-5773
Adnan Ayan Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6335-7019
Ali Bilgin Yılmaz Faculty of Health, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0749-2418
İlker Çamkerten Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6952-7703
Mustafa Ardıç Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4193-1990

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v14i6.1483-1487.8418

Keywords:

Toxoplasma gondii, minced meat, Sheep, Aksaray, Türkiye

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the molecular prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in minced sheep meat samples collected from retail stores in Aksaray province, Türkiye. A total of 100 samples were analyzed using PCR, and only parasite DNA was detected, with an overall prevalence rate of 15%. No statistically significant difference was observed between districts or retail sources (p>0.05). Sequencing results confirmed that the isolates showed a high level of similarity with T. gondii reference sequences. These findings suggest a potential food safety concern related to the consumption of undercooked sheep meat; however, the detection of parasite DNA alone does not confirm parasite viability or infectivity.

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Retail Sheep Meat as a Potential Source of Toxoplasma gondii: A Molecular Survey in Aksaray Province, Türkiye

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