Assessment of the presence of Trichinella spp. in rodents that live near pig farms in an endemic region of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

FARIÑA, FERNANDO; SCIALFA, EXEQUIEL; BOLPE, JORGE; PASQUALETTI, MARIANA; ROSA, ADRIANA; RIBICICH, MABEL

Changchun

Conferencia; 13th International Conference on Trichinellosis; 2011

International Commission on Trichinellosis Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University

Assessment of the presence of Trichinella spp. in rodents that live near pig farms in an endemic region of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina Fariña F.a, Scialfa E.b, Bolpe J.a,b, Pasqualetti, M.a, Rosa A.a, Ribicich M.a a Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Av. Chorroarín 280. (1427CWO) Buenos Aires, Argentina b Ministerio de Salud. División de Zoonosis Rurales.España 770 (7300) Azul. Buenos Aires, Argentina Trichinellosis is a wide spread food borne zoonosis caused by species of the genus Trichinella. Until present T. spiralis is the only species usually found in porcine and non- porcine animals from Argentina. Nevertheless, Krivokapich et. al. isolated in 2008 a new taxon of Trichinella(T. T12). T. spiralis can be transmitted and maintained in both a domestic and sylvatic cycle whereby rats, among others contribute to the spread of T. spiralis from domestic to sylvatic animals and vice versa. The aim of this research was to determine rat species living pig farms , the presence of infected rats in areas where porcine trichinellosis had been present or not, to examine Trichinella species presented in rat carcasses and to analyze its relationship with this parasite whether brown rats acts as a reservoir of the disease or as a an accidental host. In this study we analized the presence of Trichinella infection in rodents which inhabit pig farms from General La Madrid, Buenos Aires, Argentina. For this purpose 9 pig farms with different levels of sanitation and with, or without, T. spiralis infected pigs and a garbage dump were assessed between spring 2008 and winter 2009. Pig farms were classified with 2 criteria: sanitation level and presence of Trichinella infection (positive/negative). Once animals were captured they were identified and euthanized in order to take samples from different muscles: diaphragm, tongue, masseter, intercostal muscles, and the limbs. A total of 150 rodents were captured. All the species belonged to the genus Rattus species norvegicus. The presence of Trichinella spp was tested by artificial digestion of each muscle sample. Samples were analyzed by artificial digestion resulting in negative outcomes (no presence of Trichinella in any individual). Studies in wild animals such as wild boars, opossums, wild carnivores (mustelids, procyonidae, etc.) carried out in different parts of the world, including Argentina contribute to reconsider the existence of a natural reservoir other than the brown rat The absence of positive rats in both negative and positive pig farms reinforce the hypothesis of the rat as a vector or an accidental host rather than a reservoir of the disease.