Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Sweden and evaluation of ELISA test performance.
Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan parasite, infecting a wide range of warm-blooded animals. The Swedish wild boar population is expanding and increased hunting provides its meat to a growing group of consumers. We performed a spatio-temporal investigation of T. gondii seroprevalence in Swedish wild boars. An ELISA was set up and evaluated against a commercial direct agglutination test, using Bayesian latent class analysis. The ELISA sensitivity and specificity were estimated to 79% and 85%, respectively. Of 1327 serum samples, 50% were positive. Thirty-four per cent of young wild boars and 55% of adults were positive (P < 0.001). The total seroprevalence ranged from 72% in 2005 to 38% in 2011 (P < 0.001), suggesting a declining trend. The highest seroprevalence, 65%, was recorded in South Sweden. In other regions it varied from 29% in Stockholm to 46% in East Middle Sweden.
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Uppsala,Sweden.
C
C
Wallander
Department of Disease Control and Epidemiology,National Veterinary Institute,Uppsala,Sweden.
J
J
Frössling
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Uppsala,Sweden.
I
I
Vågsholm
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Uppsala,Sweden.
A
A
Uggla
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Uppsala,Sweden.
A
A
Lundén
D000367:Age Factors; D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005843:Geography; D008460:Meat / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
Monitoring; Toxoplasma gondii; serological screening; test evaluation; wild boar