BACKGROUND Foodborne toxoplasmosis in humans can be due to the exposure to tissue cysts of Toxoplasma gondii through the consumption of meat, including pork, of infected animals. Traditional Romanian food habits include pork as the preferred meat, while backyard pig rearing remains a common practice in many rural areas of Romania. The aims of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in naturally infected backyard pigs slaughtered for familial consumption and to genetically characterize the T. gondii strains obtained. METHODS Paired blood and heart samples were collected from 94 backyard pigs, home slaughtered for private consumption. Serum samples were analyzed using the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) for anti-T. gondii antibody detection. Heart samples were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the 529-bp repeat region (REP529) for T. gondii detection. In addition, heart samples from IFAT positive animals were bioassayed in mice. The T. gondii isolates were genotyped by the analysis of 15 microsatellite markers. RESULTS The results showed that almost half of the pigs investigated were T. gondii seropositive (46.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 36.4-57.4%) and in more than a quarter of the pigs (26.6%, 95% CI: 18.0-36.7%), the parasite was detected by PCR. Three (3/44) T. gondii strains were isolated from hearts of seropositive pigs and they all belonged to genotype II. CONCLUSIONS The present study showed the presence of T. gondii infection in backyard pigs in Romania, which suggests that consumption of pork from animals reared and slaughtered at home may pose a potential threat to human health and should be given attention. In addition, to our knowledge, this is the first study to provide data concerning T. gondii strains circulating in pigs from Romania.

中文翻译：

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在罗马尼亚，供家庭食用的自然感染后院猪中的弓形虫的流行和遗传特征。

背景技术人类中的食源性弓形虫病可归因于通过食用被感染动物的肉，包括猪肉，而暴露于弓形虫的组织囊肿。罗马尼亚的传统饮食习惯包括以猪肉为首选肉，而后院养猪仍然是罗马尼亚许多农村地区的普遍做法。本研究的目的是评估在为家庭食用而屠宰的自然感染后院猪中的弓形虫感染率，并对获得的弓形虫菌株进行遗传鉴定。方法从94只后院家猪中采集配对的血液和心脏样本，这些家猪被屠宰后供个人食用。使用免疫荧光抗体测试（IFAT）分析血清样品中的抗T抗体。弓形虫抗体检测。通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）筛选针对529 bp重复区域（REP529）的弓形虫检测的心脏样本。另外，在小鼠中对来自IFAT阳性动物的心脏样品进行了生物测定。通过分析15个微卫星标记，对刚地弓形虫分离株进行基因分型。结果结果显示，所调查的猪中几乎有一半为弓形虫血清阳性（46.8％，95％置信区间（CI）：36.4-57.4％），超过四分之一的猪（26.6％，95％CI： 18.0-36.7％），通过PCR检测到该寄生虫。从血清反应阳性猪的心脏中分离出三（3/44）个刚地弓形虫菌株，它们都属于基因型II。结论本研究表明罗马尼亚后院猪存在弓形虫感染，这表明从在家饲养和宰杀的动物中食用猪肉可能对人类健康构成潜在威胁，应引起注意。此外，据我们所知，这是第一个提供有关罗马尼亚猪中流通的弓形虫菌株的数据的研究。