title: Survey of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in meat juice of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in several districts of the Czech Republic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of the study were: 1) to detect antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii from wild boar meat; 1) establish seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in the wild boar population; 3) establish risk factors concerned in higher possible seroprevalence; 4) to estimate the usefulness of meat juice for detection of T. gondii antibodies in wild boar.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diaphragm meat juice samples from 656 wild boar (Sus scrofa) were collected during the hunting seasons between September 2008 - October 2010 from 9 districts of the Czech Republic. The samples were stratified per age category into 2 groups: piglets (n = 279) and yearlings together with adults (n = 377). The in-house ELISA test was used for the detection of antibodies against T. gondii from the meat juice samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antibodies against T. gondii were detected by in-house ELISA in 260 of 656 wild boars (40%) with 26% prevalence in piglets (72/279) and 50% prevalence in yearlings and adults (188/377). The district total seroprevalences ranged between 32% - 59%, with a significantly higher prevalence in the district of Havlíčkův Brod (59%). Statistically significant differences (p-value < 0.05) were found between 2 age categories, and between 9 districts, with a significant variability in the district of Havlíčkův Brod. Seroprevalence correlated positively with farm density, but without any statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The obtained results indicate that consumption of raw or undercooked meat from wild boars can carry an important risk of toxoplasma infection. Post mortem detection of antibodies in meat juice samples using ELISA is a useful alternative to blood serum examination. In addition, a diaphragm sample has been well-proven as a matrix sample for the contemporaneous diagnostics of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, State Veterinary Institute, Jihlava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Račka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bártová
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Budíková
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, State Veterinary Institute, Jihlava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vodrážka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003296:Cooking; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000469:parasitology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016266:Food Parasitology; D008460:Meat / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology