Original scientific paper
The use of meat juice serology in the diagnostics of invasive protist Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse processed pigs
Dunja Fuštin
Marta Kiš
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Domagoj Ovinčević
Tomislav Zubak
Nevijo Zdolec
orcid.org/0000-0001-7413-8115
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Currently, mandatory macroscopic examination of meat cannot detect the most common pork-borne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, and Toxoplasma gondii), making it necessary to use selected epidemiological risk indicators from farm to slaughterhouse. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in meat juice from pig diaphragms collected during processing at the slaughterhouse. A total of 91 meat juice samples from domestic pigs were analyzed using a commercial ELISA assay, of which 54 were from 18 large pig farms and 37 from 18 small family farms. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 13% of the pigs and 17% of the farms. The T. gondii seropositive pigs were only from small family farms (p < 0.05). The biosecurity category of the farm had an influence on the seroprevalence
of T. gondii.
Keywords
serology; meat juice; Toxoplasma gondii; pigs
Hrčak ID:
311457
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2023.
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