Original Scientific Article
Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and potentially zoonotic helminths in wild boars (Sus scrofa) hunted in central Italy
Roberto Amerigo Papini * ,
Sara Vannucci ,
Guido Rocchigiani ,
Simona Nardoni ,
Francesca Mancianti

Mac Vet Rev 2018; 41 (1): 83 - 93

10. 2478/macvetrev-2018-0012

Received: 01 October 2017

Received in revised form: 18 January 2018

Accepted: 22 January 2018

Available Online First: 15 February 2018

Published on: 15 March 2018

Correspondence: Roberto Amerigo Papini, roberto.amerigo.papini@unipi.it
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Abstract

Our aim was to evaluate the risk of human toxoplasmosis via meat consumption from wild boars by estimating the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in animals hunted in central Italy. Using a modified agglutination test, 213 sera from wild boars were examined for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies. Diaphragm samples (n=65) from seropositive and seronegative animals were tested by nested-PCR to detect T. gondii DNA. Toxoplasma DNA from diaphragms was genotyped by PCR-RFLP using 12 genetic markers. Moreover, the aim of the study was also to identify helminth infections of wild boars in the selected area and to evaluate their hazard for humans. Examination of sera revealed a seroprevalence of 12.2%. Only one T. gondii strain could be genotyped from a seropositive animal and PCR-RFLP revealed that it belonged to type II. Analysis of 50 samples of faeces and 32 small intestines revealed that 78% and 15.6% of the samples harboured parasites, respectively, with the occurrence of parasites potentially dangerous for humans. These latter included Ascaris suum, Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus, Trichuris suis, and Metastrongylus spp. A significant association was found between coprological positivity and male sex. These results indicate that T. gondii infection may be present in wild boar tissues and consumption of undercooked or raw wild boar meat may expose humans to risk of toxoplasmosis in the study area. Furthermore, the study highlights that wild boars are hosts of helminths of veterinary and medical importance transmissible to pigs and humans.

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, prevalence, wild boars, zoonotic helminthiases, Italy

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Copyright 

©2018 Papini R.A. This is an open-access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank all the wild boar hunting teams for their important contribution and the University of Pisa for providing financial support to carry out this survey.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declared that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation Information

Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 41, Issue 1, Pages 83-93, p-ISSN 1409-7621, e-ISSN 1857-7415,DOI: 10. 2478/macvetrev-2018-0012, 2018

The all content of the Macedonian Veterinary Review, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.