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.