title: New finding of Trichinella britovi in a European beaver (Castor fiber) in Latvia.
abstract: We report the first finding of Trichinella britovi in a European beaver. In Latvia, beaver is a common game animal and frequently used in human diet. A high prevalence of Trichinella infections in Latvia is present in the most common hosts-carnivores and omnivores. In total, 182 European beaver muscle samples were tested for Trichinella larvae accordingly to the reference method of European Communities Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/2005 (2005). Trichinella britovi larvae were detected in one animal (prevalence 0.5%; intensity 5.92 larvae per gram of muscle). This finding suggests that the consumption of European beaver meat can be a risk to human health. Further studies are needed in order to determine if the present observation represents an isolated individual case or low prevalence of Trichinella infection in beavers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR", Lejupes Street 3, Riga, Latvia, zanda.seglina@bior.lv.
authors.forename: Zanda
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Segliņa
authors.forename: Eduards
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bakasejevs
authors.forename: Gunita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deksne
authors.forename: Voldemārs
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Spuņģis
authors.forename: Muza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurjušina
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva; D007844:Latvia / Q000453:epidemiology; D009132:Muscles / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D012377:Rodentia / Q000469:parasitology*; D014234:Trichinella / Q000145:classification*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*