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Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Hunted Wild Boars (Sus scrofa): Heart Meat Juice as an Alternative Sample to Serum for the Detection of Antibodies

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Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a global zoonosis caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Detection of antibodies to T. gondii in serum samples from hunted animals may represent a key step for public health protection. It is also important to assess the circulation of this parasite in wild boar population. However, in hunted animals, collection of blood is not feasible and meat juice may represent an alternative sample. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate heart meat juice of hunted wild boars as an alternative sample for post-mortem detection of antibodies to T. gondii by modified agglutination test (MAT). The agreement beyond chance between results from meat juice assessed with Cohen’s kappa coefficient revealed that the 1:20 meat juice dilution provided the highest agreement. McNemars’s test further revealed 1:10 as the most suitable meat juice dilution, as the proportion of positive paired samples (serum and meat juice from the same animal) did not differ at this dilution. All together, these results suggest a reasonable accuracy of heart meat juice to detect antibodies to T. gondii by MAT and support it as an alternative sample in post-mortem analysis in hunted wild boars.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the strategic research Project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0772/2014 financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and by a PROFAD grant from the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária (CECAV), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal

    Catarina Coelho, Ana Patrícia Lopes & Madalena Vieira-Pinto

  2. Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Catarina Coelho & João Rodrigo Mesquita

  3. Departamento de Ciências Veterinárias, Escola de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal

    Ana Patrícia Lopes, Luís Cardoso & Madalena Vieira-Pinto

  4. Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO), Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal

    João Rodrigo Mesquita

Authors
  1. Catarina Coelho
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  2. Ana Patrícia Lopes
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  3. João Rodrigo Mesquita
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  4. Luís Cardoso
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  5. Madalena Vieira-Pinto
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Correspondence to Madalena Vieira-Pinto.

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Coelho, C., Lopes, A.P., Mesquita, J.R. et al. Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Hunted Wild Boars (Sus scrofa): Heart Meat Juice as an Alternative Sample to Serum for the Detection of Antibodies. EcoHealth 12, 685–688 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-015-1073-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-015-1073-9

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