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Published on: November 3, 2009
Toxoplasma gondii in horse meat intended for human consumption in Romania
Anamaria Ioana Paştiu1, Adriana Györke2, Zsuzsa Kalmár2
1University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Infectious Diseases Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Abstract:
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.
