RESUMEN
Toxoplasmosis, an infectious disease caused by the obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, poses varying degrees of risk, ranging from asymptomatic cases in immunocompetent individuals to severe, life-threatening conditions in immunocompromised individuals and developing fetuses, especially when infection occurs during early pregnancy. While the disease is endemic in Iraq, there is a notable lack of precise information regarding its seroprevalence among females of childbearing age and pregnant women, along with associated risk factors in the Zakho district. This cross-sectional study aimed to address this gap by determining the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using the ELISA assay. The study involved 610 females aged 18-79 years from various residential areas within Zakho district, Iraq. The findings revealed a seroprevalence of 32.46% for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies and 8.86% for IgM antibodies. Significant variations in IgG antibody seroprevalence were observed across different age groups (P=0.008), with the highest prevalence noted among those aged 46-55 years (47.73%). Conversely, IgM antibody seroprevalence, while non-significant (P>0.05), displayed the highest rate of 10.05% among ages 18-25 years. The study identified residence as a variable significantly associated with toxoplasmosis. Additionally, contact with cats, marital status, a history of abortion, and the consumption of homemade food showed significant associations with anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibodies only. These findings strongly suggest that Toxoplasma gondii is a prevalent causative agent of infection in Zakho city, Iraq. This study contributes valuable insights into the seroprevalence and associated risk factors, providing a foundation for targeted interventions and further research in this region.
RESUMEN
The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of many human arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which affect millions of people worldwide. Population genetic studies on this mosquito have been important in understanding its invasion pathways and success as a vector of human disease. The Axiom aegypti1 SNP chip was developed from a sample of geographically diverse A. aegypti populations to facilitate genomic studies on this species. We evaluate the utility of the Axiom aegypti1 SNP chip for population genetics and compare it with a low-depth shotgun sequencing approach using mosquitoes from the native (Africa) and invasive ranges (outside Africa). These analyses indicate that results from the SNP chip are highly reproducible and have a higher sensitivity to capture alternative alleles than a low-coverage whole-genome sequencing approach. Although the SNP chip suffers from ascertainment bias, results from population structure, ancestry, demographic, and phylogenetic analyses using the SNP chip were congruent with those derived from low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, and consistent with previous reports on Africa and outside Africa populations using microsatellites. More importantly, we identified a subset of SNPs that can be reliably used to generate merged databases, opening the door to combined analyses. We conclude that the Axiom aegypti1 SNP chip is a convenient, more accurate, low-cost alternative to low-depth whole-genome sequencing for population genetic studies of A. aegypti that do not rely on full allelic frequency spectra. Whole-genome sequencing and SNP chip data can be easily merged, extending the usefulness of both approaches.