Occurrence ofspp. in rats on pig farms.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The highest risk of trichinellosis for human is considered in eating meat products containing live larvae, mostly from wild boars or pigs. Spreading ofspp. may occur in various ways, one of which is transmission by vectors. The rat is considered to be the most common vector forparasite. The population of rats living on pig farms can play an important role in maintaining or spreading the parasite to other animals. OBJECTIVE: The aim of presented survey was to investigate the occurrence ofspp. in rats on farms with pigs infected with this parasite. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From pig farms selected for study, the muscles of collected rats were investigated by magnetic stirrer digestion method to assess occurrence ofin the rat population. Isolatedparasites were identified under stereomicroscope and multiplex PCR were performed for species identification. RESULTS: Rats infected withspp. were discovered on three of five investigated pig farms. The mean extent of invasion in rats from the studied farms was 23.33%. The calculated medium intensity of invasion was 4.09 lpg (larvae per gram) (SD 5.41). All larvae ofdiscovered from rats were identified as. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained indicate that in farms with a high prevalence ofinvasion in pigs there are very likely to be found rats infected by this nematode. This suggests possibility to maintain the invasion in herd and spread into neighborhood farms.