An atypical strain associated with congenital toxoplasmosis in Tunisia

New Microbiol. 2011 Oct;34(4):413-6. Epub 2011 Oct 31.

An atypical strain associated with congenital toxoplasmosis in Tunisia.

Boughattas S, Abdallah RB, Siala E, Aoun K, Bouratbine A.

SourceLaboratoire de Recherche 05SP03, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis Belvedère, Tunisia.

Abstract
We report the identification and typing of a congenital toxoplasmosis case in a diabetic pregnant young woman living in Tunis. The Toxoplasma DNA extracted from amniotic fluid was detected by Real Time PCR and subjected to a multilocus genetic characterisation of the strain at markers: 3'SAG2, 5'SAG2, New SAG2, SAG3, GRA6, BTUB, APICO, PK1, KT850 and UPRT1. An atypical genotype of T.gondii with unusual genetic composition was revealed. It is the first time that an atypical strain has been associated with congenital toxoplasmosis in Africa. Atypical strains are associated with severe clinical manifestations so systematic genotyping should be investigated with the amniocentesis.

PMID:22143816[PubMed - in process]