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ABSTRACT
Purpose
To describe eight patients with toxoplasma retinochoroiditis following exposure to wild game.
Methods
Retrospective, multicenter case series
Results
Eight men, aged 29 to 71 (mean, 56 years), developed toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis after hunting and/or consuming wild game in the United States, including seven deer and one bear. Five patients developed the disease after eating undercooked game meat, while three developed ocular findings after cleaning hunted animals. Seven patients were healthy prior to exposure. LogMAR visual acuity at presentation was 0.697 ± 0.745, improving to 0.256 ± 0.335 by last follow-up. Disease complications developed in five (62.5%) patients, of which recurrence of retinochoroiditis was the most common.
Conclusions
Contact with wild game is a potential source of primary ocular toxoplasmosis in immunocompetent adults. Hunters and consumers of rare game are at risk of serious ocular disease and appropriate contact precautions and cooking may reduce this complication.
Acknowledgments
CDC was supported in part by the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation. We would like to thank the imaging staffs at each institute.
Disclosure statement
Dr. Besirli receives royalties from ONL Therapeutics and consults and receives equity and royalties from iRenix Medical (none related to the current work). Dr. Baumal is a speaker for Genetech, Zeiss, and Novartis (none related to the current work). Dr. Johnson serves on Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for Syneos Health, Amgen, Pfizer, and Aura Biosciences (none related to the current work). All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.