Detection of trichinellosis in a historically Trichinella-free area of Argentina

COSTANTINO SUSANA; SOSA NATALIA; CALCAGNO MARCELA; FORASTIERO MARÍA ANALÍ; FARABELLO SERGIO P; TAUS MARÍA ROSALBA; VENTURIELLO STELLA MARIS

VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2009 vol. 159 p. 354 - 357

0304-4017

The aim of the present work was to determine the presence of human and porcinetrichinellosis in an area of Argentina historically regarded as Trichinella-free. Human blooddonors (n = 216) and swine destined for consumption (n = 57) were evaluated byserological techniques (ELISA, immunofluorescence, and/or Western Blot). Muscle tissuesfrom 26 of the pigs were evaluated for the presence of Trichinella larvae by the artificialdigestion method. A questionnaire was used to collect and evaluate data on eating habitsof the human population under study and on swine-raising conditions. The survey showedthat 98.1% of the individuals (n = 212) were regular consumers of pork in the form ofstuffed products such as sausages produced by local butchers. The seroprevalence(positive sera by at least two of the three methods) was 8.3% (n = 18) for humantrichinellosis and 24.5% (n = 14) for porcine trichinellosis. Trichinella spiralis larvae werefound in 2 of the 26 pigs (7.7%) with parasite loads of 0.33 and 2.4 muscle larvae per gram.Twelve swine found positive by serological and/or parasitological tests were raised underpoor sanitary conditions (presence of rubbish in the surroundings, with cannibalism andscavenging behaviors, presence of rodents, etc.). Our study confirms the existence ofporcine trichinellosis in an area regarded as Trichinella-free, provides supportingserological evidence of human infection in this area, and indicates that failure to reportcases of trichinellosis based on inadequate surveillance can result in incorrect prevalenceclassification of an area.