Toxoplasma gondii in horse meat intended for human consumption in Romania.
Fiche publication
Date publication
septembre 2015
Journal
Veterinary parasitology
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr VILLENA Isabelle
Tous les auteurs :
Paştiu AI, Györke A, Kalmár Z, Bolfă P, Rosenthal BM, Oltean M, Villena I, Spînu M, Cozma V
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, an economically important zoonotic protozoan, was investigated in horses slaughtered for export and human consumption in the North of Romania. Pairs of samples, sera and heart tissues, were collected from 82 slaughtered horses. Examination of horse sera by ELISA at a dilution of 1:10, and by modified agglutination test (MAT) at a dilution of 1:6, revealed that 32 (39%) and 31(37.8%) horses, respectively, had antibodies against T. gondii. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, T. gondii DNA was not found in any heart sample collected from horses. By bioassay in mice, we obtained viable isolates of T. gondii from two of ten horses determined to be strongly positive by serological assay/ELISA. The prevalence estimated in horses highlighted the potential risk for human contamination by consumption of raw or undercooked meat.
Mots clés
Bioassay, Horses, Romania, Seroprevalence, Toxoplasma gondii
Référence
Vet Parasitol. 2015 Sep 15;212(3-4):393-5