Parasite. 2015;22:17. doi: 10.1051/parasite/2015017. Epub 2015 May 20.
Abstract
Little is known about the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild life, particularly game animals in Poland. Meat juice collected during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 hunting
seasons from 552 red deer (Cervus elaphus), 367 wild boars (Sus scrofa)
and 92 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) was tested for T. gondii
antibodies using the multi-species ID Screen Toxoplasmosis Indirect kit
(IDvet, Montpellier, France). Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in
24.1% of red deer (95% CI: 20.7%, 27.8%), 37.6% of wild boar (95% CI:
32.8%, 42.7%) and 30.4% of roe deer (95% CI: 22.0%, 40.5%). To the
authors' best knowledge, this is the first epidemiological report of T.
gondii prevalence in red deer, roe deer and wild boars in Poland.
T. gondii is present in wildlife animal tissues and consumption of the
game may be a potential source of infection for humans.
© L. Witkowski et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2015.