{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]],"date-time":"2026-08-29T03:07:40Z","timestamp":1787972860567,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744156800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>Toxoplasmosis is an infection that is widespread in populations comprising humans and other warm-blooded creatures and is caused by the protozoan parasite called <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic>. Hence, knowledge of seroprevalence and associated risk factors is essential for planning adequate and efficient population health interventions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the seropositivity of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> infection and to study the epidemiological indices in different categories of populations in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This cross-sectional survey involved 426 participants 10\u202fyears of age and older from urban, rural, and nomadic areas. Serum samples were collected and analyzed for IgG antibodies against <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> using the ELISA method. Demographic data, such as age, occupation, soil contact, and cat ownership, were collected through questionnaires.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis was 62.2%, and a significant relationship between the infection and age, exposure to soil, and job involvement was observed. Farmers and ranchers had the highest occurrence rate of 69.4%; no association of the prevalence with gender, education, income, cat ownership, or eating habits was observed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Occupational risk factors appear to play a significant role in the transmission of toxoplasmosis, although there is doubt cast on classic risk factors such as cat handling and ingesting contaminated foodstuffs. Such exposure can lead to risky transmission of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>; therefore, continued surveillance and specific approaches in public health are needed to address such risks in the area.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1516693","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T05:23:08Z","timestamp":1744176188000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with toxoplasmosis in nomadic, rural, and urban communities of northwestern Iran"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ali","family":"Bahadori","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Towhid","family":"Babazadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khalil Maleki","family":"Chollou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hanane","family":"Moqadam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mostafa Bafandeh","family":"Zendeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Behnaz","family":"Valipour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leili","family":"Valizadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Soghra","family":"Valizadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sakhavat","family":"Abolhasani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hamed","family":"Behniafar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.05013-11","article-title":"Epidemiology of and diagnostic strategies for toxoplasmosis","volume":"25","author":"Robert-Gangneux","year":"2012","journal-title":"Clin Microbiol Rev"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-019-1545-0","article-title":"Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017","volume":"574","author":"Burstein","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1217","DOI":"10.1016\/S0020-7519(00)00124-7","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans","volume":"30","author":"Tenter","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int J Parasitol"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e00054","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fawpar.2019.e00054","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis: overview from a one health perspective","volume":"15","author":"Djurkovi\u0107-Djakovi\u0107","year":"2019","journal-title":"Food Waterborne Parasitol"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"895","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpara.2009.02.004","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis: a history of clinical observations","volume":"39","author":"Weiss","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int J Parasitol"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1242\/jeb.074153","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii infection and behaviour\u2013location, location, location?","volume":"216","author":"McConkey","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Exp Biol"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1111\/acps.12423","article-title":"Beyond the association. 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