Proceedings

Identification of potential risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii in fattening pigs in the Netherlands using a Bayesian approach

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Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a relevant foodborne pathogen, it is estimated that up to one third of the world population has been exposed to the parasite (Tenter et al. 2000). In the Netherlands toxoplasmosis ranks second on a list of prioritized emerging zoonosis (Havelaar et al. 2010) and also second in disease burden among 14 foodborne diseases (Mangen et al. 2017). Data suggest that ingesting improperly cooked meat containing T. gondii is one of the major sources of infection in Europe and North America (Crotta et al. 2017; Guo et al. 2015). The contribution of pork to meatborne T. gondii infections is estimated to be 11 % in the Netherlands (Opsteegh 2011) and is seen as an important possible source of human T. gondii infections (Foroutan et al. 2019). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) advised to perform serological testing of pigs and on farm audits on risk factors (EFSA 2011). To that end, a serological monitoring program was developed in a slaughterhouse in the Netherlands. In this study, the objective is to determine the association between within-herd seroprevalence, corrected for misclassification of samples through Bayesian analyses, and risk factors for T. gondii on fattening pig farms in The Netherlands.

How to Cite:

Van Wagenberg, C. P., Eppink, D. M., Oorburg, D., Urlings, H. A., Wisselink, H. J., Krijger, I., van der Giessen, J. W., Bouwknegt, M., Swanenburg, M. & van Asseldonk, M. A., (2019) “Identification of potential risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii in fattening pigs in the Netherlands using a Bayesian approach”, SafePork 13(1), 155-156. doi: https://doi.org//safepork.11405