Occurrence of Toxoplama gondii antibodies in
fattening pigs from the State of São Paulo, Brazil
Solange M. Gennari1*, Cláudia B. de A. dos
Santos2,
Ângela C. F. B. de Carvalho2,
Alessandra M. A. Ragozo1, Rodrigo M. Soares1,
Lúcia E. O. Yai3, J. P. Dubey4
1Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde
Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade de São
Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, SP,
Brazil.
2Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias
e Veterinárias da Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil.
3Laboratório de Zoonoses e Doenças Transmissíveis, Prefeitura do Município
de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
4Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture,
Agriculture Research Service, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville,
MD 20705-2350, USA.
* Author for correspondence: S. M. Gennari: sgennari@usp.br
Pigs are an important source of meat-borne Toxoplasma gondii infections in humans, but little is known about T. gondii infections in fattening pigs in Brazil. Antibodies against T. gondii were determined in the sera of 286 male and female fattening pigs of 6-8 months of age raised in 17 counties of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Sera were tested for T. gondii antibodies by the modified agglutination test (MAT), which measures T. gondii-specific IgG antibodies. Antibodies (MAT > 25) were found in 49 (17%) pigs with titers of 1:25 in 3, 1:50 in 3, 1:100 in 2, 1:200 in 8, 1:400 in 8, 1:1600 in 14, 1:3200 in 3, and 1:6400 in 3 pigs. Most (107 out of 286) of the pigs were from Areiópolis and 17% were seropositive. Antibodies were not found in 25 pigs from five counties (Itaguaí, Itararé, Lácio, Pereiras and Taboão da Serra). The results indicate 17% of fattening pigs from the Sate of São Paulo had contact with T. gondii, and are a potential source of infection to humans.