Nearly a Third of African Poultry Carry Toxoplasma gondii, Meta-Analysis Finds

Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic parasite of public health importance, infects nearly a third of poultry across Africa, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Veterinary Research. The study, which followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines, pooled data from twenty-one studies comprising thirty-seven study arms and 5,580 birds drawn from fourteen African countries, with the literature search covering studies published between 1 January 2000 and 30 April 2026 in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and African Journals Online.

The pooled prevalence of T. gondii infection was 29.0 percent, with a 95 percent confidence interval of 19.0 to 41.0 percent. The estimate came with substantial between-study heterogeneity, expressed as an I² of 95.8 percent, meaning that the variation among individual studies was far greater than would be expected by chance alone. The authors note that prevalence estimates varied substantially across studies, and that diagnostic method contributed to this heterogeneity.

Regional contrasts were marked. Prevalence was highest in East Africa at 46.0 percent (95 percent CI 30.0 to 64.0), followed by Central Africa at 34.0 percent (95 percent CI 16.0 to 57.0), North Africa at 28.0 percent (95 percent CI 13.0 to 49.0) and West Africa at 18.0 percent (95 percent CI 8.0 to 37.0). These figures are pooled estimates from studies conducted in different settings and periods, so they describe geographic patterns in the assembled literature rather than measured changes over time.

Poultry type also shaped the estimates. Backyard chickens had a pooled prevalence of 57.0 percent (95 percent CI 34.0 to 78.0), while pigeons had the lowest estimate at 7.0 percent, though with a very wide confidence interval of 0.0 to 58.0 percent that reflects limited precision. The authors suggest that free-range production systems and contact with environments contaminated by felid faeces may influence exposure in African poultry, and that infected meat consumed raw or inadequately cooked may contribute to foodborne transmission.

Diagnostic method emerged as a significant moderator of prevalence estimates, with a heterogeneity statistic of QM = 30.65 and p < 0.0001. The latex agglutination test (LAT) was associated with higher prevalence estimates than the direct agglutination test (DAT) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In multivariable meta-regression, LAT was the only statistically significant individual predictor relative to DAT, with a coefficient of 3.72 and p = 0.0055, whereas study year and poultry type were not significant predictors. This pattern indicates that part of the apparent variation among studies may reflect how infection was detected rather than true differences in infection alone.

The review also examined risk factors for infection. The risk-factor analysis produced an overall pooled odds ratio of 3.39 (95 percent CI 1.11 to 10.37; I² = 86.9 percent) across eighteen observations from six independent studies. Importantly, this estimate combined heterogeneous risk factors, including age, breed, water source, management practices and host exposure, into a single summary figure, so it does not describe the effect of any one factor.

The statistical significance of that pooled odds ratio was not maintained when the single contributing study of moderate methodological quality was excluded. The authors accordingly caution that the limited number of contributing studies warrants careful interpretation, and they frame their risk-factor findings as suggesting that poultry characteristics, management practices, water sources and exposure to other hosts may be relevant to infection risk rather than as established causal effects.

The study’s conclusion is that T. gondii infection is common in African poultry, although prevalence estimates vary substantially across studies, with diagnostic method contributing to that heterogeneity. Poultry serve as intermediate hosts and potential indicators of environmental contamination, which gives the findings relevance beyond veterinary medicine, since seropositive birds can signal contamination of the environments in which they range.

On the basis of these results, the authors propose strengthening surveillance, improving poultry management and promoting food safety practices as measures that may help reduce the public health risks associated with poultry-borne toxoplasmosis in Africa. As a systematic review of published observational studies, the analysis is limited by the quality and heterogeneity of the underlying literature, and the authors themselves flag the small number of studies contributing to the risk-factor synthesis as a key limitation.

Subject of Research: Pooled prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in African poultry

Article Title: Prevalence and associated risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in poultry in africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Article References: Akinbobola, R. I. A., Akinbobola, J. S., Ejiofor, C. E., Nafarnda, W. D., Jolayemi, K. O., & Opara, M. N. (2026). Prevalence and associated risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in poultry in africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Veterinary Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-026-06059-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12917-026-06059-6

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, poultry, Africa, systematic review, meta-analysis, prevalence, zoonotic parasite, diagnostic methods, backyard chickens, food safety, public health, veterinary research