Seroprevalence of zoonotic parasites in pigs slaughtered in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal

Brecht Devleesschauwer, Mathieu Pruvot, Durga Datt Joshi, Stéphane De Craeye, Malgorzata Jennes, Anita Ale, Alma Welinski, Sanjyoti Lama, Arjun Aryal, Bjorn Victor, Luc Duchateau, Niko Speybroeck, Jozef Vercruysse, Pierre Dorny

    Research output: Contribution to journalA1: Web of Science-articlepeer-review

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    Abstract

    For several years, the demand for pork has been on the rise in Nepal. To assess the importance of pork as a carrier of zoonotic agents, we performed a cross-sectional study in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, in which we serologically determined the infection status of slaughtered pigs with regard to three of the most important parasites transmitted through pork consumption: Trichinella spp., Taenia solium cysticerci, and Toxoplasma gondii. From 2007 to 2010, 742 pigs were sampled at slaughter, of which 0.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.0-0.7%) were found positive for Trichinella infection, 13.8% (95% credibility interval [CrI] 0.8-28.5%) for T. solium cysticercosis, and 11.7% (95% CI 5.2-17.5%) for Toxoplasma infection. Further monitoring of the related animal and human disease burden and strengthening of food safety protocols throughout the pork production chain are strongly recommended.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalVector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
    Volume13
    Issue number12
    Pages (from-to)872-876
    Number of pages5
    ISSN1530-3667
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Keywords

    • Animals
    • Cross-Sectional Studies
    • Cysticercosis/epidemiology
    • Female
    • Humans
    • Male
    • Nepal/epidemiology
    • Seroepidemiologic Studies
    • Swine
    • Swine Diseases/epidemiology
    • Taenia solium/immunology
    • Toxoplasma/immunology
    • Toxoplasmosis, Animal/epidemiology
    • Trichinella/immunology
    • Trichinellosis/epidemiology
    • Zoonoses/epidemiology

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