title: Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in slaughtered pigs in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.
abstract: The object of this study was to investigate Toxoplasma gondii antibodies and parasite DNA in pigs in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Blood samples were collected from 305 slaughtered pigs in 11 municipalities, and their sera were tested for T. gondii antibodies using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT, cutoff 1:64); 38 (12.5%) samples were positive. Attempts were made to detect T. gondii DNA in the heart tissue of seropositive pigs using the B 1 gene and PCR; 21 (55.2%) of the 38 hearts were positive. This is the first detection of T. gondii DNA in tissues of serologically positive swine in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n-Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife-PE, Brazil. erikasamico@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Erika F T
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Samico Fernandes
authors.forename: Marcela F T
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Samico Fernandes
authors.forename: Pomy C P
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Pedro P F
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: de Albuquerque
authors.forename: Orestes L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: de Souza Neto
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de S Santos
authors.forename: Érica P B X
authors.initials: ÉP
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: Eduardo G F
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: de Morais
authors.forename: Rinaldo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mota
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan