Persistence of encysted Toxoplasma gondii in tissues of pigs fed oocysts.
Ten pigs were fed 100 to 10,000 Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. Two pigs died 7 and 11 days later, and 8 pigs were euthanatized at days 38, 38, 91, 126, 168, 169, 170, and 171. From the euthanatized pigs, portions of 15 organs digested in pepsin-HCl solution were inoculated into mice, as a bioassay for viable T gondii. Such organisms were isolated from the brain and heart of these 8 pigs, from the tongue of 7, from thigh muscles of 5, from the diaphragm of 4, from kidneys, liver, and small intestines of 2, and from salivary glands and eyes of 1 pig; but not from lungs, spleen, spinal cord, mesenteric and prescapular lymph nodes of any pig. Results indicate that T gondii can persist in edible tissues of living pigs for at least 171 days and that heart and brain may be the most suitable porcine tissues for epizootiologic surveys.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission