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Toxoplasma gondii infection in pork produced in France

2016; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 143; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0031182015001870

1469-8161

Vitomir Djokić, Radu Blaga, Dominique Aubert, Bernard Durand, Claudio Perret, R. Geers, Tamara Ducry, Isabelle Vallée, Olgica Djurković–Djaković, A. Mzabi, Isabelle Villena, Pascal Boireau,

Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments

SUMMARY The aim of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite in pork produced in France, and to determine infection risk factors. An innovative survey was designed based on annual numbers of slaughtered pigs from intensive and outdoor farms in France. A total of 1549 samples of cardiac fluids were collected from pig hearts to determine seroprevalence using a Modified Agglutination Test. Of those, 160 hearts were bio-assayed in mice to isolate live parasites. The overall seroprevalence among fattening pigs was 2·9%. The adjusted seroprevalence in pigs from intensive farms was 3·0%; the highest in sows (13·4%); 2·9% in fattening pigs and 2·6% in piglets. Adjusted seroprevalence in fattening animals from outdoor farms was 6·3%. Strains were isolated from 41 animals and all were genotyped by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism as type II. Risk-factor analysis showed that the risk of infection was more than three times higher for outdoor pigs, and that sows’ risk was almost five times higher than that of fattening animals. This study provides further evidence of extensive pork infection with T. gondii regardless of breeding systems, indicating that farm conditions are still insufficient to guarantee ‘ Toxoplasma -free pork’.