Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gq7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T13:34:49.609Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Survival of Trichinella papuae muscle larvae in a pig carcass maintained under simulated natural conditions in Papua New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

Ifor L. Owen*
Affiliation:
National Veterinary Laboratory, National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea:
Simon A. Reid
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Division of Health Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia, 6150, Australia

Abstract

In Papua New Guinea, Trichinella papuae, a non-encapsulated species, is circulating among wild and domestic pigs and saltwater crocodiles. Since an important phase of the life cycle of nematodes of the genus Trichinella is the time of survival of infective larvae in decaying muscle tissues of the hosts, the carcass of a pig, experimentally infected with larvae of T. papuae, was exposed to the environmental conditions of Papua New Guinea to establish how long these larvae would survive and remain infective to a new host. Larvae retained their infectivity in the pig carcass up to 9 days after slaughtering, during which time the temperature within the carcass reached 35.0°C on 2 days; the average relative humidity was 79.0%. A low number of larvae survived up to day 14 after the pig was killed, when the carcass temperature reached 38.0°C, but they lost their infectivity to laboratory mice. This result suggests that the larvae of T. papuae can survive in a tropical environment for a time, favouring their transmission to a new host in spite of the lack of a collagen capsule.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Campbell, W.C. (1983) Modes of transmission. pp. 425444in Campbell, W.C. (Ed.) Trichinella and trichinosis. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Despommier, D.D. (1990) Trichinella spiralis: the worm that would be virus. Parasitology Today 6, 193196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamble, H.R., Bessonov, A.S., Cuperlovic, K., Gajadhar, A.A., van Knapen, F., Noeckler, K., Schenone, H. & Zhu, X. (2000) International Commission on Trichinellosis: recommendations on methods for the control of Trichinella in domestic and wild animals intended for human consumption. Veterinary Parasitology 93, 393408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kapel, C.M.O., Webster, P. & Gamble, H.R. (2005) Muscle distribution of sylvatic and domestic Trichinella larvae in production animals and wildlife. Veterinary Parasitology 132, 101105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madsen, H. (1974) The principles of the epidemiology of trichinelliasis with a new view on the life cycle. pp. 615638in Kim, C.W. (Ed.) Trichinellosis. New York, Intext Educational Publishers.Google Scholar
Owen, I.L., Sims, L.D., Wigglesworth, M.C. & Puana, I. (2000) Trichinellosis in Papua New Guinea. Australian Veterinary Journal 78, 698701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Owen, I.L., Gomez Morales, M.A., Pezzotti, P. & Pozio, E. (2005) Trichinella infection in a hunting population of Papua New Guinea suggests an ancient relationship between Trichinella and human beings. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 99, 618624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pozio, E. & Murrell, K.D. (2006) Systematics and epidemiology of Trichinella. Advances in Parasitology 63, 367439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pozio, E., Owen, I.L., La Rosa, G., Sacchi, L., Rossi, P. & Corona, S. (1999) Trichinella papuae n.sp. (Nematoda), a new non-encapsulated species from domestic and sylvatic swine of Papua New Guinea. International Journal for Parasitology 29, 18251839.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pozio, E., Marucci, G., Cassuli, A., Sacchi, L., Mukaratirwa, S., Foggin, C.M. & La Rosa, G. (2004) Trichinella papuae and Trichinella zimbabwensis induce infection in experimentally infected varans, caimans, pythons and turtles. Parasitology 128, 333342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pozio, E., Owen, I.L., Marucci, G. & La Rosa, G. (2005) Inappropriate feeding practice favors the transmission of Trichinella papuae from wild pigs to saltwater crocodiles in Papua New Guinea. Veterinary Parasitology 127, 245251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pozio, E., Foggin, C.M., Gelanew, T., Marucci, G., Hailu, A., Rossi, P. & Gomez Morales, M.A. (2007) Trichinella zimbabwensis in wild reptiles of Zimbabwe and Mozambique and farmed reptiles of Ethiopia. Veterinary Parasitology 143, 305310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, G.L. (1983) Pathophysiology of the muscle phase. pp. 241264in Campbell, W.C. (Ed.) Trichinella and trichinellosis. New York, Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, G.L., Kennedy, R.R. & Larsen, E. (1990) Infectivity of Trichinella pseudospiralis isolated from carrion. Journal of Parasitology 76, 750751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Von Köller, J., Kapel, C.M.O., Enemark, H.L. & Hindsbo, O. (2001) Infectivity of Trichinella spp. recovered from decaying mouse and fox muscle tissue. Parasite 8, S209S212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, P., Malakauskas, A. & Kapel, C.M.O. (2002) Infectivity of Trichinella papuae for experimentally infected red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Veterinary Parasitology 105, 215218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed