Trichinella pseudospiralis in pig from Croatia

Vet Parasitol. 2009 Feb 23;159(3-4):304-7. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2008.10.067. Epub 2008 Nov 1.

Abstract

Trichinella spiralis and Trichinella britovi are species that are frequently found in domestic pigs and various sylvatic animals in Croatia. During routine trichinoscopy, non-encapsulated larvae were detected in the muscle tissue of a domestic pig. Artificial digestion revealed a larvae burden of 602 muscle larvae per gram of tissue. Tissue section analysis confirmed the presence of non-encapsulated larvae. Multiplex PCR identified the larvae as T. pseudospiralis. This observation is consistent with the reports of a local veterinary inspector who described the presence of non-encapsulated Trichinella in four individual cases over the last 2 years. This is the first report of T. pseudospiralis in Croatia and one of very few cases of T. pseudospiralis infection described in domestic pigs. The detection of non-encapsulated larvae stresses the need for implementation of artificial digestion instead of trichinoscopy for the detection and identification of Trichinella infections.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Croatia / epidemiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / parasitology
  • Swine
  • Swine Diseases / epidemiology
  • Swine Diseases / parasitology*
  • Trichinella / classification*
  • Trichinella / cytology