Department of Infectious, parasitic and immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Parasit Vectors. 2014 Apr 7;7:171. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-7-171.
Trichinella spp. infections in wild boar (Sus scrofa), one of the main sources of human trichinellosis, continue to represent a public health problem. The detection of Trichinella spp. larvae in muscles of wild boar by digestion can prevent the occurrence of clinical trichinellosis in humans. However, the analytical sensitivity of digestion in the detection process is dependent on the quantity of tested muscle. Consequently, large quantities of muscle have to be digested to warrant surveillance programs, or more sensitive tests need to be employed. The use of indirect detection methods, such as the ELISA to detect Trichinella spp. infections in wild boar has limitations due to its low specificity. The aim of the study was to implement serological detection of anti-Trichinella spp. antibodies in meat juices from hunted wild boar for the surveillance of Trichinella spp. infections.
Two tests were used, ELISA for the initial screening test, and a specific and sensitive Western blot (Wb) as a confirmatory test. The circulation of anti-Trichinella IgG was determined in hunted wild boar muscle juice samples in 9 provinces of 5 Italian regions.
From 1,462 muscle fluid samples, 315 (21.5%, 95% C.I. 19.51-23.73) were tested positive by ELISA. The 315 ELISA-positive muscle fluid samples were further tested by Wb and 32 (10.1%, 95% C.I. 7.29-13.99) of these were positive with a final seroprevalence of 2.2% (95% C.I 1.55-3.07; 32/1,462). Trichinella britovi larvae were detected by artificial digestion in muscle tissues of one (0.07%, 95%C.I. 0.01-0.39) out of the 1,462 hunted wild boars. No Trichinella spp. larvae were detected in Wb-negative wild boar. From 2006 to 2012, a prevalence of 0.017% was detected by muscle digestion in wild boar hunted in the whole Italian territory.
The combined use of both serological methods had a sensitivity 31.4 times higher than that of the digestion (32/1,462 versus 1/1,462), suggesting their potential use for the surveillance of the Trichinella spp. infection in wild boar populations.
旋毛虫病是一种人兽共患寄生虫病，主要传染源是野猪（Sus scrofa）。在肌肉中检测到旋毛虫幼虫可预防人类旋毛虫病的发生。然而，消化法检测过程中的分析灵敏度取决于检测肌肉的数量。因此，为了保证监测计划的实施，需要消化大量的肌肉，或者需要使用更敏感的检测方法。间接检测方法，如 ELISA 检测野猪旋毛虫病的感染，由于其特异性低而存在局限性。本研究旨在建立一种用于检测野猪肌肉液中抗旋毛虫抗体的血清学检测方法，以监测旋毛虫感染。
使用两种检测方法，ELISA 作为初筛试验，特异性和敏感性较高的 Western blot（WB）作为确认试验。在意大利 5 个地区的 9 个省份，检测了来自狩猎野猪的肌肉汁液样本中的循环抗旋毛虫 IgG。
在 1462 份肌肉液体样本中，315 份（21.5%，95%置信区间 19.51-23.73）通过 ELISA 检测呈阳性。对 315 份 ELISA 阳性肌肉液样本进行进一步的 WB 检测，其中 32 份（10.1%，95%置信区间 7.29-13.99）呈阳性，最终血清阳性率为 2.2%（95%置信区间 1.55-3.07；32/1462）。在 1462 只被猎野猪的肌肉组织中，通过人工消化检测到 1 只（0.07%，95%置信区间 0.01-0.39）感染了旋毛虫 britovi 幼虫。在 WB 检测呈阴性的野猪中未检测到旋毛虫幼虫。从 2006 年到 2012 年，在整个意大利领土狩猎的野猪中，通过肌肉消化检测到的流行率为 0.017%。
两种血清学方法的联合使用比消化法的灵敏度高 31.4 倍（32/1462 比 1/1462），提示它们可能用于监测野猪种群中旋毛虫感染。
