Whether the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is a reservoir of Trichinella spp. infection or merely an accidental host, which may be vector of Trichinella spp., continues to be debated. We estimated the prevalence of Trichinella sp. infection in brown rat populations and in domestic pigs in 2 villages in Croatia, where Trichinella sp. infection in pigs has been endemic in the past 10 yr. Trichinella spiralis larvae, identified by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction analyses, were the only species detected in both rats and pigs. In 2001 and 2002, 2,287 rats were collected on 60 farms with different levels of sanitation and with, or without, T. spiralis–infected pigs. The prevalence of infection in rats ranged from 0.2 to 10.7%. Infected rats were detected only on farms with T. spiralis–positive pigs and low sanitation or formerly with low sanitation (P = 0.007, Fisher's exact test), yet no infected rat was detected on farms with T. spiralis–negative pigs. The finding that no infected rat was found on farms with T. spiralis–negative pigs suggests that, in the investigated area, the brown rat is not a reservoir but only a victim of improper pig slaughtering.
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June 2004
RESEARCH NOTES|
June 01 2004
The Epidemiological Investigation of Trichinella Infection in Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and Domestic Pigs in Croatia Suggests That Rats are not a Reservoir at the Farm Level Available to Purchase
Dagny Stojcevic;
Dagny Stojcevic
aDepartment of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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Tatjana Zivicnjak;
Tatjana Zivicnjak
aDepartment of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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Albert Marinculic;
Albert Marinculic
aDepartment of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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Gianluca Marucci;
Gianluca Marucci
bLaboratory of Parasitology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
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Gaspar Andelko;
Gaspar Andelko
cMinistry of Agriculture and Forestry, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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Mate Brstilo;
Mate Brstilo
dCroatian Veterinary Institute, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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Lucic Pavo;
Lucic Pavo
eVeterinary Clinic “Interna veterina,” 32000 Otok, Croatia
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Edoardo Pozio
Edoardo Pozio
bLaboratory of Parasitology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
fTo whom correspondence should be addressed. [email protected]
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J Parasitol (2004) 90 (3): 666–670.
Citation
Dagny Stojcevic, Tatjana Zivicnjak, Albert Marinculic, Gianluca Marucci, Gaspar Andelko, Mate Brstilo, Lucic Pavo, Edoardo Pozio; The Epidemiological Investigation of Trichinella Infection in Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and Domestic Pigs in Croatia Suggests That Rats are not a Reservoir at the Farm Level. J Parasitol 1 June 2004; 90 (3): 666–670. doi: https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-158R
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