Cargando…

High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that can cause serious disease in humans, especially in pregnant women. This parasite is found in many animals and people can be infected by eating raw or undercooked meat. Wild boar are known to harbor this parasite; populations and habitats have incr...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bandelj, Petra, Vengušt, Diana Žele, Blagus, Rok, Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra, Krt, Branko
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8614481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34827871
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11113139
_version_ 1784603876228333568
author Bandelj, Petra
Vengušt, Diana Žele
Blagus, Rok
Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra
Krt, Branko
author_facet Bandelj, Petra
Vengušt, Diana Žele
Blagus, Rok
Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra
Krt, Branko
author_sort Bandelj, Petra
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that can cause serious disease in humans, especially in pregnant women. This parasite is found in many animals and people can be infected by eating raw or undercooked meat. Wild boar are known to harbor this parasite; populations and habitats have increased in the past decade, as it also increased the consumption of venison. The European population of wild boar has a mean prevalence of 26%. In our study, we found that the prevalence in the Slovenian wild boar population is 62%, the highest in the world to date. The prevalence was influenced by age and weight, but not by gender. In conclusion, the hunting community should be made aware of the high risk of parasite exposure when dealing with wild boar meat. ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite of great public health concern. Wild boars could be considered an emerging source of toxoplasmosis in humans due to the popularity of venison and their increasing population. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the Slovenian wild boar population and evaluate risk factors for human infection. Of 353 samples, 62% were positive for T. gondii using ELISA tests. This is the highest T. gondii seroprevalence reported to date in wild boar worldwide. The increase in prevalence with increasing age (p = 0.003) and weight (p = 0.002) were statistically significant, whereas gender was not (p = 0.781). Odds for being T. gondii-positive increased with age with the largest difference being between 2–3-year-old and 1–2-year-old animals (OR = 2.66, 95%CI: 1.03–6.85). Animals weighing 20–40 kg had a higher risk than animals weighing 0–20 kg (OR = 2.74, 95%CI: 1.21–6.20), whereas a further increase in the weight was not associated with increasing the odds. Due to the high Toxoplasma prevalence, the study concluded that the risk of exposure to T. gondii from handling raw or undercooked wild boar meat is high. Surveillance protocols should be established at the national level together with increased awareness within the hunting community.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8614481
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-86144812021-11-26 High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) Bandelj, Petra Vengušt, Diana Žele Blagus, Rok Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra Krt, Branko Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that can cause serious disease in humans, especially in pregnant women. This parasite is found in many animals and people can be infected by eating raw or undercooked meat. Wild boar are known to harbor this parasite; populations and habitats have increased in the past decade, as it also increased the consumption of venison. The European population of wild boar has a mean prevalence of 26%. In our study, we found that the prevalence in the Slovenian wild boar population is 62%, the highest in the world to date. The prevalence was influenced by age and weight, but not by gender. In conclusion, the hunting community should be made aware of the high risk of parasite exposure when dealing with wild boar meat. ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite of great public health concern. Wild boars could be considered an emerging source of toxoplasmosis in humans due to the popularity of venison and their increasing population. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the Slovenian wild boar population and evaluate risk factors for human infection. Of 353 samples, 62% were positive for T. gondii using ELISA tests. This is the highest T. gondii seroprevalence reported to date in wild boar worldwide. The increase in prevalence with increasing age (p = 0.003) and weight (p = 0.002) were statistically significant, whereas gender was not (p = 0.781). Odds for being T. gondii-positive increased with age with the largest difference being between 2–3-year-old and 1–2-year-old animals (OR = 2.66, 95%CI: 1.03–6.85). Animals weighing 20–40 kg had a higher risk than animals weighing 0–20 kg (OR = 2.74, 95%CI: 1.21–6.20), whereas a further increase in the weight was not associated with increasing the odds. Due to the high Toxoplasma prevalence, the study concluded that the risk of exposure to T. gondii from handling raw or undercooked wild boar meat is high. Surveillance protocols should be established at the national level together with increased awareness within the hunting community. MDPI 2021-11-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8614481/ /pubmed/34827871 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11113139 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bandelj, Petra
Vengušt, Diana Žele
Blagus, Rok
Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra
Krt, Branko
High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title_full High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title_fullStr High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title_full_unstemmed High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title_short High Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Slovenian Wild Boars (Sus scrofa)
title_sort high seroprevalence of toxoplasma gondii in slovenian wild boars (sus scrofa)
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8614481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34827871
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11113139
work_keys_str_mv AT bandeljpetra highseroprevalenceoftoxoplasmagondiiinslovenianwildboarssusscrofa
AT vengustdianazele highseroprevalenceoftoxoplasmagondiiinslovenianwildboarssusscrofa
AT blagusrok highseroprevalenceoftoxoplasmagondiiinslovenianwildboarssusscrofa
AT verglesratajaleksandra highseroprevalenceoftoxoplasmagondiiinslovenianwildboarssusscrofa
AT krtbranko highseroprevalenceoftoxoplasmagondiiinslovenianwildboarssusscrofa