title: Toxoplasma gondii in commercially available pork meat and cured ham: a contribution to risk assessment for consumers.
abstract: Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, whose transmission has usually been attributed to ingestion of undercooked or raw meat. Dry-cured ham is a high-quality meat product of increasing economic relevance, and epidemiological studies point to cured meat products  as a risk factor for acquiring toxoplasmosis. With the aim of contributing to the risk assessment process, 50 samples of fresh pork meat and commercial cured ham were collected in the city of Zaragoza (northeastern Spain), and the presence of viable forms of T. gondii was analyzed.  A mouse concentration bioassay technique was used, and the presence of the parasite in mice was determined by indirect immunofluorescence assay. T. gondii was detected in two samples of rib, reflecting a frequency of 8% positive fresh pork meat (4% positivity of total samples analyzed).  Brains of seropositive mice were analyzed by histology and PCR, although the parasite was not isolated in the seroconverted mice. No viable forms were detected either in other types of fresh meat or in the samples of cured ham.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, c/ Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Spain. sbayarri@unizar.es
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bayarri
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gracia
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Arquillué
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lázaro
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herrera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D016266:Food Parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000469:parasitology*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000469:parasitology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013030:Spain; D013552:Swine; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission