Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

First nationwide survey of the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild boars in Japan

  • Protozoology - Short Communication
  • Published:
Parasitology Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The increase in some wildlife species is of global concern. The utilization of wildlife meat as food and feed represents a potential source of food-borne pathogens; this is particularly a potential concern for the use of wild board as a food source in Japan. Regarding food safety and an animal infectious disease control, however, little is known about the infection level of zoonotic pathogens including Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in wild boar populations in their natural habitats in Japan. A total of 1279 blood samples from 41 prefectures were collected from apparently healthy wild boars during the three hunting periods (September to February) of 2014–2015, 2015–2016, and 2017–2018. Out of these sera, 461 samples tested positive by a commercial indirect ELISA for T. gondii, and the total apparent and adjusted true seroprevalence were estimated to 36.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 33.4–38.7) and 31.3% (95% CI, 33.1–38.9), respectively. The seroprevalence was significantly higher in yearlings and adults than in piglets (P < 0.05); however, no significant difference according to gender was noted. These results indicate the importance of adequate heating of wild boar meat before consumption to prevent transmission of T. gondii to humans. Furthermore, freezing meat for several days before cooking is recommended to reduce the risk of infection. In addition, although the incidence of toxoplasmosis in pig farms is relatively low in Japan, biosecurity measures against the felids and the varied intermediate hosts should be strengthened, especially, at the farms located in the wild boar habitats to prevent livestock infection.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  • Allwin B, Swaminathan R, Mohanraj A, Suhas GN, Vedamanickam S, Gopal S, Kumar M (2016) The wild pig (Sus scrofa) behavior – a retrospective study. J Veterinar Sci Techno. 7. https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7579.1000333

  • Basso W, Hartnack S, Pardini L, Maksimov P, Koudela B, Venturini MC, Schares G, Sidler X, Lewis FI, Deplazes P (2013) Assessment of diagnostic accuracy of a commercial ELISA for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pigs compared with IFAT, TgSAG1-ELISA and Western blot, using a Bayesian latent class approach. Int J Parasitol 43:565–570

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Broström G (2019) Package ‘glmmML’. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/glmmML/glmmML.pdf

  • Coelho C, Vieira-Pinto M, Faria AS, Vale-Gonçalves H, Veloso O, das Neves Paiva-Cardoso M, Mesquita JR, Lopes AP (2014) Serological evidence of Toxoplasma gondii in hunted wild boar from Portugal. Vet Parasitol 202:310–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubey JP, Urban JF Jr (1990) Diagnosis of transplacentally induced toxoplasmosis in pigs. Am J Vet Res 51:1295–1299

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2014) FAO identifies top 10 foodborne parasites. Vet Rec 175:58

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia JL, Navarro IT, Vidotto O, Gennari SM, Machado RZ, da Luz Pereira AB, Sinhorini IL (2006) Toxoplasma gondii: comparison of a rhoptry-ELISA with IFAT and MAT for antibody detection in sera of experimentally infected pigs. Exp Parasitol 113:100–105

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • García-Bocanegra I, Simon-Grifé M, Sibila M, Dubey JP, Cabezón O, Martin G, Almería S (2010) Duration of maternally derived antibodies in Toxoplasma gondii naturally infected piglets. Vet Parasitol 170:134–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grema C, Hotea I, Imre M, Dărăbuș G, Pascu C, Mariș C, Herman V (2015) Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis and swine influenza in wild boars. Sci Parasitol 16:20–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill DE, Dubey JP, Baroch JA, Swafford SR, Fournet VF, Hawkins-Cooper D, Pyburn DG, Schmit BS, Gamble HR, Pedersen K, Ferreira LR (2014) Surveillance of feral swine for Trichinella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii in the USA and host-related factors associated with infection. Vet Parasitol 205:653–665

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto J, Kako Y, Morita Y, Kabeya H, Sakano C, Nagai A, Maruyama S, Nogami S (2011) Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild boars (Sus scrofa leucomystax) and wild sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Parasitol Int 60:331–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2020) Promotion of utilization of wildlife meat (In Japanese). https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/gibier/suishin.html

  • R Core Team (2019) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. https://www.R-project.org/

  • Richomme C, Afonso E, Tolon V, Ducrot C, Halos L, Alliot A, Perret C, Thomas M, Boireau P, Gilot-Fromont E (2010) Seroprevalence and factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii infection in wild boar (Sus scrofa) in a Mediterranean island. Epidemiol Infect 138:1257–1266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roqueplo C, Blaga R, Marié JL, Vallée I, Davoust B (2017) Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in hunted wild boars (Sus scrofa) from southeastern France. Folia Parasitol (Praha). https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2017.003

  • Rostami A, Riahi SM, Fakhri Y, Saber V, Hanifehpour H, Valizadeh S, Gholizadeh M, Pouya RH, Gamble HR (2017) The global seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii among wild boars: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Vet Parasitol 244:12–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shiibashi T, Narasaki K, Yoshida M, Nogami S (2004) Prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibody in hunter-killed wild boars, Sus scrofa leucomystax, on Amakusa Island, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. J Vet Med Sci 66:327–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tenter AM, Heckeroth AR, Weiss LM (2000) Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. Int J Parasitol 30:1217–1258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wallander C, Frössling J, Vågsholm I, Uggla A, Lunden A (2015) Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Sweden and evaluation of ELISA test performance. Epidemiol Infect 143:1913–1921

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Youden WJ (1950) Index for rating diagnostic tests. Cancer 3:32–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dainihon Ryoyukai (hunters association of Japan) for their supports in collecting samples and information.

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parasitic Disease Unit, Division of Bacterial and Parasitic Disease, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 3-1-5, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0856, Japan

    Sota Kobayashi & Yasuko Hanafusa

  2. Epidemiology Unit, Division of Viral Disease and Epidemiology, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 3-1-5, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0856, Japan

    Yumiko Shimizu, Takehisa Yamamoto, Yoko Hayama & Emi Yamaguchi

  3. Mycobacterial Disease Unit, Division of Bacterial and Parasitic Disease, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 3-1-5, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0856, Japan

    Makoto Osaki

Authors
  1. Sota Kobayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yumiko Shimizu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Takehisa Yamamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yoko Hayama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Emi Yamaguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yasuko Hanafusa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Makoto Osaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: Sota Kobayashi and Makoto Osaki; methodology: Sota Kobayashi; formal analysis and investigation: Sota Kobayashi; resources: Sota Kobayashi and Makoto Osaki; writing—original draft preparation: Sota Kobayashi; writing—review and editing: Yumiko Shimizu, Takehisa Yamamoto, Yoko Hayama, Emi Yamaguchi, Yasuko Hanafusa, and Makoto Osaki; funding acquisition: Yumiko Shimizu, Takehisa Yamamoto, and Makoto Osaki; supervision: Makoto Osaki.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sota Kobayashi.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable. However, as mentioned in the body, all animals were handled in accordance with the relevant law (Act No. 88 of 2002).

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Section Editor: Dana Mordue

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kobayashi, S., Shimizu, Y., Yamamoto, T. et al. First nationwide survey of the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild boars in Japan. Parasitol Res 120, 1505–1509 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07086-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07086-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation