Toxoplasma gondii in horse meat intended for human consumption in Romania

Anamaria Ioana Paştiu; Adriana Györke; Zsuzsa Kalmár; Pompei Bolfă; Benjamin Martin Rosenthal; Miruna Oltean; Isabelle Villena; Marina Spînu; Vasile Cozma

doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.024

Toxoplasma gondii in horse meat intended for human consumption in Romania

Vet Parasitol. 2015 Sep 15;212(3-4):393-5. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.024. Epub 2015 Jul 28.

Authors

Anamaria Ioana Paştiu¹, Adriana Györke², Zsuzsa Kalmár³, Pompei Bolfă⁴, Benjamin Martin Rosenthal⁵, Miruna Oltean³, Isabelle Villena⁶, Marina Spînu⁷, Vasile Cozma³

Affiliations

¹ University 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.
² University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Electronic address: titilincua@yahoo.com.
³ University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 334, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis; University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Pathology Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁵ Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, United States.
⁶ Laboratory of Parasitology, EA 3800, SFR CAP SANTE, University Reims Champagne Ardenne, National Reference Center on Toxoplasmosis, Reims, France.
⁷ University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Infectious Diseases Department, 3-5 Mănăştur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

PMID: 26238654
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.024

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.

Keywords: Bioassay; Horses; Romania; Seroprevalence; Toxoplasma gondii.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Food Parasitology
Heart / parasitology
Horse Diseases / parasitology
Horses
Meat / parasitology*
Mice
Romania / epidemiology
Toxoplasmosis, Animal / epidemiology
Toxoplasmosis, Animal / parasitology*