Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in artisanal salted meat products sold in street markets of the Ilhéus-Itabuna microregion.

This study aimed to detect Toxoplasma gondii in artisanal salted meat products sold in street markets in the Ilhéus-Itabuna microregion and to assess the salt concentration used in their preparation and its influence on the parasite's viability. A total of 125 samples of various artisanal meat products sold in street markets located in the Ilhéus-Itabuna microregion were collected during 2021. Serological analysis using indirect hemagglutination (HAI) and molecular analysis (PCR) were performed on these samples to detect the presence of the parasite. Möhr's method was utilized to determine the sodium chloride concentration in the samples. Of all samples, 21 were subjected to a bioassay in albino mice to verify the viability of possible tissue cysts. Among the 125 meat products, 10 (8%) tested positive in the serological analysis including four cured pork sausages, five beef sun-dried meats, and one mixed fresh sausage (pork and chicken). None of 125 samples tested positive in the molecular analysis. On bioassay, all mice tested negative for the presence of the parasite. The NaCl concentration in the positive samples ranged from 2.9% to 8%. The results demonstrated that the salt concentration in the collected samples was sufficient to inactivate the parasite T. gondii.

In vitro assay to determine inactivation of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples.

Consumption of raw and undercooked meat is considered as an important source of Toxoplasma gondii infections. However, most non-heated meat products contain salt and additives, which affect T. gondii viability. It was our aim to develop an in vitro method to substitute the mouse bioassay for determining the effect of salting on T. gondii viability. Two sheep were experimentally infected by oral inoculation with 6.5 × 104 oocysts. Grinded meat samples of 50 g were prepared from heart, diaphragm, and four meat cuts. Also, pooled meat samples were either kept untreated (positive control), frozen (negative control) or supplemented with 0.6 %, 0.9 %, 1.2 % or 2.7 % NaCl. All samples were digested in pepsin-HCl solution, and digests were inoculated in duplicate onto monolayers of RK13 (a rabbit kidney cell line). Cells were maintained for up to four weeks and parasite growth was monitored by assessing Cq-values using the T. gondii qPCR on cell culture supernatant in intervals of one week and ΔCq-values determined. Additionally, 500 µL of each digest from the individual meat cuts, heart and diaphragm were inoculated in duplicate in IFNγ KO mice. Both sheep developed an antibody response and tissue samples contained similar concentrations of T. gondii DNA. From all untreated meat samples positive ΔCq-values were obtained in the in vitro assay, indicating presence and multiplication of viable parasites. This was in line with the mouse bioassay, with the exception of a negative mouse bioassay on one heart sample. Samples supplemented with 0.6 %-1.2 % NaCl showed positive ΔCq-values over time. The frozen sample and the sample supplemented with 2.7 % NaCl remained qPCR positive but with high Cq-values, which indicated no growth. In conclusion, the in vitro method has successfully been used to detect viable T. gondii in tissues of experimentally infected sheep, and a clear difference in T. gondii viability was observed between the samples supplemented with 2.7 % NaCl and those with 1.2 % NaCl or less.

Absence of Toxoplasma gondii in 100% Iberian products from experimentally infected pigs cured following a specific traditional process.

Infection with Toxoplasma gondii in humans has usually been related to the consumption of raw, undercooked or cured meat. Our study is based on the detection of T. gondii in cured legs and shoulders made from 100% Iberian sows fed mainly with acorn and raised as outdoor livestock in Aracena (Spain), which having been elaborated following a specific curing process (time period and location). An outdoor farm with a total of 636 animals was studied, showing a seroprevalence of 10% for the parasite T. gondii. Twenty individuals were chosen to be experimentally infected and slaughtered 60 days post-infection. Their legs and shoulders were processed to make 100% Iberian ham legs and shoulders. The meat ready to be eaten was analyzed by quantification and viability assays using magnetic capture real-time qPCR and bioassay techniques proving that this specific traditional "Cinco Jotas" curing process 100% Iberian ham is strong enough to eliminate the parasite T. gondii, resulting in a safe product for consumers.

All about Toxoplasma gondii infections in pigs: 2009-2020.

Toxoplasma gondii infections are common in humans and animals worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii infection in pigs continues to be of public health concern. Pigs are important for the economy of many countries, particularly, USA, China, and European countries. Among the many food animals, pigs are considered the most important for T. gondii transmission in USA and China because viable parasites have rarely been isolated from beef or indoor raised chickens. Besides public health issues, T. gondii causes outbreaks of clinical toxoplasmosis in pigs in China, associated with a unique genotype of T. gondii (ToxoDB genotype #9 or Chinese 1), rarely found in other countries. The safety of ready to eat pork products with respect to T. gondii infection is a matter of recent debate. Here, we review in detail seroprevalence, prevalence of viable and nonviable T. gondii, epidemiology, risk assessment, diagnosis, and curing of pork products containing T. gondii for the past decade. This review will be of interest to biologists, parasitologists, veterinarians, and public health workers.

Epidemiology of Taenia saginata taeniosis/cysticercosis: a systematic review of the distribution in East, Southeast and South Asia.

BACKGROUND: Taenia saginata is an important zoonotic parasite, causing taeniosis in humans and cysticercosis in bovines, the latter being a significant concern for the global beef industry. Many countries in East, Southeast and South Asia are experiencing rapid economic growth, and an increasing number of people in these countries are dependent on the livestock industry. Currently, however, an overview of the prevalence of T. saginata in this region is lacking. In this review, we analysed the available literature on T. saginata taeniosis and bovine cysticercosis for East, Southeast and South Asia. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted, based on both published and grey literature. Articles published between 1990 and 2017 were mined for information on the occurrence, prevalence, and geographical distribution of T. saginata taeniosis and bovine cysticercosis in East, Southeast and South Asia. RESULTS: The presence of T. saginata was described in 15 of 27 countries of the region, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The only country that reported an absence of T. saginata is Japan, although sporadic reports of imported cases and unconfirmed reports of autochthonous infections were identified. Nationwide surveys of taeniosis with systematic sample collection and high sample numbers were available for Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, and South Korea, although speciation of Taenia was not always performed. Regional prevalence of taeniosis and bovine cysticercosis in endemic regions ranged between 0.02-42.6%, and 0.76-46.7%, respectively. However, data for bovine cysticercosis were only available for five countries (Japan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Pakistan and Vietnam). CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate a widespread occurrence of T. saginata throughout East, Southeast and South Asia. Identification of Taenia spp. in human infections was frequently not performed, leading to gaps in knowledge about the distribution of human tapeworm infections, mainly in regions where different human Taenia species co-occur. A high prevalence of T. saginata taeniosis and bovine cysticercosis may reflect insufficiencies in sanitation, limited health education standards, and insufficient food safety measures. Therefore, there is a need to improve local surveillance, notification, and overall control systems.

Methods to assess the effect of meat processing on viability of Toxoplasma gondii: towards replacement of mouse bioassay by in vitro testing.

Consumption of meat containing viable tissue cysts is considered one of the main sources of human infection with Toxoplasma gondii. In contrast to fresh meat, raw meat products usually undergo processing, including salting and mixing with other additives such as sodium acetate and sodium lactate, which affects the viability of T. gondii. However, the experiments described in the literature are not always performed in line with the current processing methods applied in industry. It was our goal to study the effect of salting and additives according to the recipes used by industrial producers. Mouse or cat bioassay is the 'gold standard' to demonstrate the presence of viable T. gondii. However, it is costly, time consuming and for ethical reasons not preferred for large-scale studies.Therefore, we first aimed to develop an alternative for mouse bioassay that can be used to determine the effect of processing on the viability of T. gondii tissue cysts. The assays studied were (i) a cell culture method to determine the parasite's ability to multiply, and (ii) a propidium monoazide (PMA) dye-based assay to selectively detect DNA from intact parasites. Processing experiments were performed with minced meat incubated for 20 h with low concentrations of NaCl, sodium lactate and sodium acetate. NaCl appeared to be the most effective ingredient with only one or two out of eight mice infected after inoculation with pepsin-digest of portions processed with 1.0, 1.2 and 1.6% NaCl. Results of preliminary experiments with the PMA-based method were inconsistent and did not sufficiently discriminate between live and dead parasites. In contrast, the cell culture method showed promising results, but further optimization is needed before it can replace or reduce the number of mouse bioassays needed. In future, standardised in vitro methods are necessary to allow more extensive testing of product-specific processing methods, thereby providing a better indication of the risk of T. gondii infection for consumers.

Clinical and epidemiological descriptions from trichinellosis outbreaks in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is one of European countries where trichinellosis continues to be regularly diagnosed and registered. The clinical and epidemiological features of 72 cases of trichinellosis associated with five outbreaks caused by Trichinella spiralis and Trichinella britovi between 2009 and 2011, are described. At hospital admission, patients were often initially treated with antibiotics, without any improvement. A range of signs and symptoms were recorded, including: myalgia, elevated temperature, arthralgia, difficulty with movement, facial oedema, conjunctival hyperaemia, ocular haemorrhages, diarrhoea, skin rash, headache, and fatigue. Due to the variable clinical course of the disease, the diagnostic process for trichinellosis is often complex and difficult. This means the diagnosis may be established late for an appropriate treatment, potentially leading to a severe course of the disease with complications. Laboratory abnormalities were expressed by marked eosinophilia (97.2%), leucocytosis (70.8%), elevated serum creatine phosphokinase levels (82%), and antibody-positive results by ELISA and indirect hemagglutination. Patients were treated with albendazole (Zentel) 10 mg/kg for 7-10 days. In two outbreaks, the aetiological agent was T. spiralis, in one outbreak T. britovi, and an unknown Trichinella species in the fourth outbreak. The sources of infection were domestic pigs, probably fed with scraps and offal of wild game. In one outbreak, T. spiralis was also detected in brown rats trapped close to where the pig had been raised in the backyard. These epidemiological factors are relevant in considering implementation of targeted control programmes.

The effect of salting on Toxoplasma gondii viability evaluated and implemented in a quantitative risk assessment of meat-borne human infection.

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect all warm-blooded animals and it causes the disease toxoplasmosis. Meat containing viable T. gondii tissue cysts is considered one of the main sources of human infection. The relative importance of the different types of meat depends, not only on the prevalence of T. gondii infection in the different livestock species, but also on consumed volumes and preparation habits. To take these factors into account and to estimate the relative contribution of different meat products to human infection, a quantitative risk assessment model for meat-borne T. gondii infection was previously developed. However, at the time, the effect of salting on parasite viability was estimated based on a single experiment. In recent years, data using salting methods that are more in line with processing of meat products have come available. Literature data on the effect of salting on T. gondii viability were collected and used to fit a predictive model. In addition to the new salting model, a lower concentration of bradyzoites in cattle, more specific heating profiles, and more recent consumption data were implemented in the QMRA model for meat-borne T. gondii infection in the Netherlands. Results show that beef remains the most important source, as it contributed 84% of the total number of predicted infections in the Dutch population, followed by pork (12%), mutton (3.7%), lamb (0.2%) pork/beef mixed products (0.1%), and veal (0.01%). The predicted number of T. gondii infections is reasonably in line with epidemiological data. At the product level, filet americain (a raw beef spread) alone contributed 80% of the total predicted infections in the base model, but scenario analyses demonstrate that its contribution is highly dependent on the salting parameters. A clear identification of the most risky meat products is important, as interventions focussing on these products could have a great impact on reducing T. gondii disease burden in the Netherlands. For that reason, it is important that the effects of salting and other processing methods are evaluated in line with industrial processing and incorporated in quantitative risk assessment models for meat-borne toxoplasmosis.

Lamb as a potential source of Toxoplasma gondii infection for Australians.

OBJECTIVE: Toxoplasmosis may follow consumption of undercooked meat containing Toxoplasma gondii cysts. Lamb is considered to pose the highest risk for contamination across meats. Red meat is often served undercooked, yet there are no current data on T. gondii contamination of Australian sourced and retailed lamb. We sought to address this gap in public health knowledge. METHODS: Lamb mincemeat was purchased at the supermarket counter three times weekly for six months. T. gondii was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA extracted from the meat following homogenisation. Purchases were also tested for common foodborne bacterial pathogens. RESULTS: Conservative interpretation of PCR testing (i.e. parasite DNA detected in three of four tests) gave a probability of 43% (95% confidence interval, 32%-54%) that lamb mincemeat was contaminated with T. gondii. None of the purchases were contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella species or S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, indicating sanitary meat processing. CONCLUSIONS: Australian lamb is commonly contaminated with T. gondii. Future studies should be directed at testing a range of red meats and meat cuts. Implications for public health: Consuming undercooked Australian lamb has potential to result in toxoplasmosis. There may be value in health education around this risk.

Trichinella britovi outbreak: Epidemiological, clinical, and biological features.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe the first cases of human trichinellosis due to Trichinella britovi in Serbia. A large trichinellosis outbreak due to the consumption of wild boar meat products took place during the 2015-2016 winter. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In January 2016, the Department of Infectious Diseases in Uzice examined 111 individuals with clinical and biological signs of trichinellosis, of whom 19 were hospitalized. Trichinella species identification was performed by multiplex PCR. Serodiagnosis was performed using immunofluorescence antibody assay, indirect ELISA, and Western Blot as confirmatory tests. RESULTS: The main symptoms included myalgia (83%), weakness (82%), joint pain (80%), fever (77%), facial edema (74%), and diarrhea (23%). Eosinophil levels>500/µl were observed in 98% of patients. Elevated CPK levels were detected in 71% of patients and elevated LDH levels in 75%. Three patients had cardiac complications. Treatment included mebendazole, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteroids. Anti-Trichinella antibodies were observed in 89.7% of patients two months after disease onset, including all hospital-treated patients. Among them, serum positivity detected one year later was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: This outbreak highlighted communication failures, from hunters to consumers. Awareness should be raised on the relation between trichinellosis and game meat. Trichinella species detection is important for adequate outbreak recording and could contribute to better understanding the clinical and serological signs of T. britovi infection.

A social cost-benefit analysis of two One Health interventions to prevent toxoplasmosis.

In the Netherlands, toxoplasmosis ranks second in disease burden among foodborne pathogens with an estimated health loss of 1,900 Disability Adjusted Life Years and a cost-of-illness estimated at €45 million annually. Therefore, effective and preferably cost-effective preventive interventions are warranted. Freezing meat intended for raw or undercooked consumption and improving biosecurity in pig farms are promising interventions to prevent Toxoplasma gondii infections in humans. Putting these interventions into practice would expectedly reduce the number of infections; however, the net benefits for society are unknown. Stakeholders bearing the costs for these interventions will not necessary coincide with the ones having the benefits. We performed a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis to evaluate the net value of two potential interventions for the Dutch society. We assessed the costs and benefits of the two interventions and compared them with the current practice of education, especially during pregnancy. A 'minimum scenario' and a 'maximum scenario' was assumed, using input parameters with least benefits to society and input parameters with most benefits to society, respectively. For both interventions, we performed different scenario analyses. The freezing meat intervention was far more effective than the biosecurity intervention. Despite high freezing costs, freezing two meat products: steak tartare and mutton leg yielded net social benefits in both the minimum and maximum scenario, ranging from €10.6 million to €31 million for steak tartare and €0.6 million to €1.5 million for mutton leg. The biosecurity intervention would result in net costs in all scenarios ranging from €1 million to €2.5 million, due to high intervention costs and limited benefits. From a public health perspective (i.e. reducing the burden of toxoplasmosis) and the societal perspective (i.e. a net benefit for the Dutch society) freezing steak tartare and leg of mutton is to be considered.

Análise molecular para Toxoplasma gondii em linguiças suínas defumadas / Molecular analysis for Toxoplasma gondii in smoked swine sausages

A toxoplasmose é causada pelo protozoário Toxoplasma gondii, o qual acomete os humanos através da ingestão de carne mal passada ou crua. O presente trabalho descreve o emprego de PCR em linguiças suínas defumadas (salames) para detecção de T. gondii, aliado a utilização do teste de imunofluorescência indireta na avaliação sorológica de suínos encaminhados para abate. No estudo, avaliaram-se 18 amostras de salames e 50 amostras de soro sanguíneo de suínos. Na PCR todas as amostras de salames se apresentaram negativas e no teste de imunofluorescência indireta 8% dos animais foram positivos para T. gondii. Embora PCR-negativas, as linguiças produzidas originaram-se de matéria-prima suína proveniente de estabelecimento de abate, cujo presente estudo identificou soroprevalência de 8% para o protozoário. Dessa forma, o consumo de carne mal passada ou crua e de produtos a base de carne crua, como os salames, devem ser evitados, principalmente, em grupos de risco como crianças e idosos.

Detection of Trichinella britovi in pork sausage suspected to be implicated in a human outbreak in Mendoza, Argentina.

Of the three Trichinella species described in South America, T. spiralis, T. pseudospiralis and T. patagoniensis, only the former has been implicated in human infections from consumption of pork-derived products. During a presumed trichinellosis outbreak in 2012 in Mendoza, Argentina, we evaluated the serological responses of three patients who had eaten the incriminated food and had signs and symptoms compatible with trichinellosis, using ELISA. We also analyzed potentially contaminated pork sausage by artificial digestion technique and recovered Trichinella muscle larvae, which were identified to the species level using a PCR multiplex assay and by sequencing a region of the mitochondrial gene coding cytochrome oxidase subunit I. No antibodies were detected in the sera of the patients, probably because the samples were collected during the immunological window period. According to molecular identification, all larvae from the sausage corresponded to T. britovi. Trichinella britovi is reported here for the first time in the American Continent, and represents the only cold-tolerant member of the genus in the Neotropics. This species was most likely introduced from Europe to South America during Spanish colonization through pigs, wild boars and/or rats.

Detection and Molecular Characteristics of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in Retail Raw Meat Products in Poland.

Raw and undercooked meat are regarded as important sources of Toxoplasma gondii infection of people in Europe; however, data concerning this issue in Poland are still insufficient. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of T. gondii DNA isolated from raw meat products retailed in Poland. The molecular characteristics of detected DNA were also performed. Samples of cured bacon, raw or smoked sausages, ham, and minced meat were examined for the presence of T. gondii DNA. Samples were digested by pepsin solution, followed by the DNA isolation. Nested and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed based on the amplification of 35-fold-repetitive B1 fragment gene of T. gondii. For selected B1-positive samples, multiplex PCR was performed using SAG1, SAG2 (5'-SAG2 and 3'-SAG2), altSAG2, SAG3, GRA6, BTUB, C29-2, and L358 genetic markers. Amplicons were sequenced and analyzed with NCBI database. Among 3223 examined samples, 175 (5.4%) were PCR positive. The highest percentages of positive results were found for samples originating from south-east regions of Poland-Podkarpackie (17.9%), Malopolskie (12.6%), and Lubelskie (10.8%) (p < 0.001). The percentages of positive results for particular types of meat products-sausages, smoked meat products, ham, and minced meat-ranged from 4.5% to 5.8% and the differences between them were not significant (p > 0.05). Sequence analysis of selected B1-positive samples demonstrated mostly the alleles of clonal type III (49.0%), and less-type II (17.3%), and type I (10.2%) based on nine used genetic markers. The combinations of types I/II or II/III or I/III alleles at different loci were also found in 23.5% of cases. Detection of T. gondii DNA in raw meat products may indicate the potential health threat for consumers in Poland; however, for complete risk assessment of T. gondii infection, the additional studies, including detection of live parasite, are needed.

Consumers' preferences for freezing of meat to prevent toxoplasmosis- A stated preference approach.

Consumption of raw or undercooked meat increases the risk of infection with Toxoplasma gondii. Freezing meat products can eliminate this risk. Freezing of meat may affect consumers' valuation of meat products in two different ways: it may be valued positively because of increased food safety or valued negatively because of (perceived) loss of quality. In a Discrete Choice Experiment on four different meat products we studied the difference in willingness to pay for frozen and non-frozen meat products in the Netherlands. Analyses revealed that most Dutch consumer groups prefer non-frozen meat. Price was important in consumer decisions, whereas the meat being frozen appeared to play a minor role in the decision to purchase meat products. Even though it may seem obvious that people would prefer safe food to unsafe food, in a context where consumers presume food being safe, many consumers appear unwilling to pay for freezing of meat as additional measure to reduce the risk of food borne infections such as toxoplasmosis.

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in Processed Pork Meat.

Toxoplasma gondii infection may be attributed to the ingestion of pork meat and contaminated water. In southern Brazil, the prevalence of blindness caused by T. gondii is the highest in the world. Our purpose is to determine the frequency of T. gondii DNA in commercial fresh sausage and cured salami samples from Rio Grande do Sul state, south of Brazil. A total of 118 samples (sausage and salami) from 8 different producers were collected and DNA was extracted. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique was performed to detect T. gondii DNA using B1 marker. The frequency of T. gondii DNA among the total number of samples (sausage and salami) was 39% (46/118). Among these, a higher frequency of positivity was observed in the sausage samples (47.5%) when compared with the salami samples (17%). However, the mean parasite concentration was significantly higher in the salami samples. The prevalence of T. gondii DNA in fresh sausage and cured salami may indicate that infected pigs may be an important source of infections and a public health hazard to be considered.

Multilocus genotype analysis outlines distinct histories for Trichinella britovi in the neighboring Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia.

BACKGROUND: The zoonotic nematode Trichinella britovi was discovered in two neighboring Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, almost simultaneously at the beginning of the 21st century. An epidemiological link between the two parasite populations was generally assumed. In 2015, an outbreak of trichinellosis in Nice, the South of France, was reportedly caused by the consumption of raw pork delicatessen imported from Corsica. The aims of the present study were to investigate, by multilocus genotype (MLG) analyses, the hypothesis of the common origin of the Corsican and Sardinian T. britovi foci and to trace "from fork to farm" the origin of the pork product, which caused a trichinellosis outbreak in mainland France in 2015. METHODS: Sixty-three T. britovi isolates were collected from animals and pork products of Sardinia and Corsica islands and from mainland of Italy, France and Spain. We analyzed genetic variability at four polymorphic microsatellite loci by two independent algorithms, the Bayesian and multivariate analyses, to evaluate the genetic relationships of 1367 single larvae. RESULTS: Trichinella britovi isolates of the two islands showed different genetic structures and the Bayesian analysis revealed a different membership of the two insular populations. Furthermore, two geographically separate genetic groups were identified among Corsican isolates. Lastly, the origin of the pork delicatessen marketed in Nice was linked to a breeder-butcher in Corsica. CONCLUSIONS: The low level of genetic admixture of the insular T. britovi isolates suggests that this pathogen colonized the two islands by separate events. On the other hand in Corsica, although the isolates share the same genetic structure, geographically separate isolates showed different membership. We suggest the MLG analysis as a suitable method in supporting epidemiological investigations to trace "from fork to farm" insular populations of T. britovi.

Bovine meat versus pork in Toxoplasma gondii transmission in Italy: A quantitative risk assessment model.

Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread zoonotic parasite with a high seroprevalence in the human population and the ability to infect almost all warm blooded animals. Humans can acquire toxoplasmosis from different transmission routes and food plays a critical role. Within the food category, meat is of utmost importance, as it may contain bradyzoites inside tissue cysts, which can potentially cause infection after ingestion if parasites are not inactivated through freezing or cooking before consumption. In Italy, the most commonly consumed meat-producing animal species are bovines and pigs. However, T. gondii prevalence and consumption habits for meat of these animal species are very different. There is debate within the scientific community concerning which of these animal species is the main source of meat-derived human toxoplasmosis. The aim of this work was to build a quantitative risk assessment model to estimate the yearly probability of acquiring toxoplasmosis infection due to consumption of bovine meat and pork (excluding cured products) in Italy, taking into account the different eating habits. The model was fitted with data obtained from the literature regarding: bradyzoite concentrations, portion size, dose-response relation, prevalence of T. gondii in bovines and swine, meat consumption and meat preparation habits. Alternative handling scenarios were considered. The model estimated the risk per year of acquiring T. gondii infection in Italy from bovine and swine meat to be 0.034% and 0.019%, respectively. Results suggest that, due to existing eating habits, bovine meat can be a not negligible source of toxoplasmosis in Italy.

Risk Assessment of Human Toxoplasmosis Associated with the Consumption of Pork Meat in Italy.

Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan disease and has a broad range of hosts, including humans and several wild and domestic animals. The human infection is mostly acquired through the consumption of contaminated food and pork meat has been recognized as one of the major sources of transmission. There are, however, certain fundamental differences between countries; therefore, the present study specifically aims to evaluate the exposure of the Italian population to Toxoplasma gondii through the ingestion of several types of pork meat products habitually consumed in Italy and to estimate the annual number of human infections within two subgroups of the population. A quantitative risk assessment model was built for this reason and was enriched with new elements in comparison to other similar risk assessments in order to enhance its accuracy. Sensitivity analysis and two alternative scenarios were implemented to identify the factors that have the highest impact on risk and to simulate different plausible conditions, respectively. The estimated overall average number of new infections per year among adults is 12,513 and 92 for pregnant women. The baseline model showed that almost all these infections are associated with the consumption of fresh meat cuts and preparations (mean risk of infection varied between 4.5 × 10-5 and 5.5 × 10-5 ) and only a small percentage is due to fermented sausages/salami. On the contrary, salt-cured meat products seem to pose minor risk but further investigations are needed to clarify still unclear aspects. Among all the considered variables, cooking temperature and bradyzoites' concentration in muscle impacted most the risk.