Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella species are parasites of major public health importance because they cause severe clinical consequences in infected humans. In addition, infections of Neospora caninum in livestock are reported to cause substantial losses to the economy because of adverse effects on animal production and reproduction. In Egypt, the breeding of pigs has particular characteristics regarding the targeted consumers (tourists and Christians), breeding places (Cairo and Giza), and licensed abattoirs (only El-Bassatin in Cairo). Herein, we sought to provide a comprehensive investigation of the major parasites of pigs, including T. gondii, Trichinella species, and N. caninum, a parasite of high priority in ruminants. This study revealed variable seropositive rates against all tested parasites in pigs from Cairo, Egypt. Seropositivity was the highest for T. gondii (45.8%), followed by N. caninum (28.0%), mixed infection by both parasites (18.7%), and Trichinella spp. (1.2%). We also found the location was a predisposing factor for seropositivity for T. gondii, while location and sex were identified as predisposing factors for N. caninum seropositivity in pigs. The provided information in this study presents valuable information on the seroprevalence of T. gondii and Trichinella, and novel information on N. caninum existence among pigs in Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Pork production is a niche economy in Egypt, and pigs are typically raised as backyard animals with no sanitary control, potentially exposing them to various pathogens. Commercially available ELISAs were used to detect specific antibodies to the food-borne zoonotic parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella spp., as well as to Neospora caninum, in serum samples of pigs slaughtered at Egypt’s only licensed pig abattoir, the El-Bassatin abattoir in Cairo. Among the tested sera (n = 332), seroreactivity for T. gondii was 45.8% (95% confidence interval: 40.4–51.3), N. caninum was 28.0% (95% CI: 23.3–33.2), and Trichinella spp. was 1.2% (95% CI: 0.4–3.3). Mixed infection was only detected for T. gondii and N. caninum (18.7%; 95% CI: 14.7–23.4). The seroprevalence of T. gondii was significantly higher (p = 0.0003) in animals collected from southern Cairo (15 May city slum) than in eastern Cairo (Ezbet El Nakhl slum). Seroprevalence for N. caninum was higher in western (Manshiyat Naser slum; p = 0.0003) and southern Cairo (15 May city slum; p = 0.0003) than in that of eastern Cairo (Ezbet El Nakhl slum; p = 0.0003). Moreover, female pigs exhibited a higher rate of N. caninum antibodies than male ones (p < 0.0001). This study provides the first seroprevalence data for N. caninum in pigs in Egypt, and updates the prevalence of the zoonotic parasites Trichinella spp. and T. gondii.

Details

Title
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Trichinella spp. in Pigs from Cairo, Egypt
Author
Fereig, Ragab M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; El-Alfy, El-Sayed 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Abdelbaky, Hanan H 3 ; Abdel-Hamid, Nour H 4 ; Mazeed, Amira M 5 ; Menshawy, Ahmed M S 6 ; Kelany, Mohamed A 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; El-Diasty, Mohamed 8 ; Alawfi, Bader S 9 ; Frey, Caroline F 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt 
 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, Veterinary Clinic, Veterinary Directorate, Qena 83523, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Brucellosis Research Department, Agricultural Research Center, Animal Health Research Institute, Cairo 12618, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Arish University, Arish City 45511, North Sinai, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Department of Microbiology, The Central Laboratory of Residual Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Foods, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza 12618, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Animal Health Research Institute-Mansoura Provincial Lab. (AHRI-Mansoura), Giza 12618, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah 42353, Saudi Arabia; [email protected] 
10  Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland 
First page
675
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
23067381
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2904916521
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.