Toxoplasma gondii is the aetiological agent of the zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis and transmitted among other ways by chemically and physically untreated, that is, raw pork to humans. The detection of Toxoplasma gondii is impossible by currently practiced meat inspection, but serological tests can be used to detect Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in pig herds and can consequently be helpful to identify potentially contaminated pork. Therefore, appropriate serological tests are required. In this study, serum samples of 1368 naturally exposed slaughter pigs from 73 Austrian farms were collected. Serum samples of at least 16 slaughter pigs per farm were tested. The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in serum was measured by a commercial available modified agglutination test (MAT) and compared to three different commercial available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The MAT detected 6.5%, ELISA I 6.7%, ELISA II 4.8% and ELISA III 4.3% of the pigs as Toxoplasma gondii antibody positive. The agreement, according to the kappa coefficient (κ), was substantial between the MAT and ELISA I (κ = 0.62), II (κ = 0.64) and III (κ = 0.67). A better agreement was determined between ELISA I and II (κ = 0.715), ELISA I and III (κ = 0.747) and ELISA II and III (κ = 0.865). At least one pig per farm was detected Toxoplasma gondii antibody positive in 17 (23.3%) farms by the MAT, 26 (35.6%) farms by ELISA I, 16 (21.9%) farms by ELISA II and 11 (15.1%) farms by ELISA III. Pig farms with a high number of Toxoplasma gondii antibody-positive pigs or high antibody titres were identified by all of the four used serological tests. Concerning the occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in Austrian pig farms, a monitoring and surveillance programme would be reasonable to find high-risk farms.

Zusammenfassung Gegenstand und Ziel Darstellung der Untersuchungsergebnisse von 150 Abortfällen beim Rind aus dem Jahr 2018 (Januar–September). Material und Methoden Je nach Einsendematerial und Anforderung erfolgten serologische, bakteriologische und/oder molekularbiologische Untersuchungen zum Nachweis von in Österreich anzeigepflichtigen und nicht anzeigepflichtigen Aborterregern. Ergebnisse Neben rein tierpathogenen Infektionserregern konnten bei je 1 Tier Brucella melitensis, Salmonella Dublin und bei 2 Feten Coxiella burnetii nachgewiesen werden. Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass im Zusammenhang mit Aborten immer eine besondere Sorgfaltspflicht hinsichtlich Schutz der exponierten Person (Landwirt, Tierarzt, Laborpersonal) erforderlich ist. Auch mit dem Wiederauftreten von lange nicht mehr aufgetretenen Tierseuchen ist jederzeit zu rechnen, wie aus dem aktuellen Brucella-Nachweis ersichtlich wird. Klinische Relevanz Wichtigste Voraussetzung für eine hohe Aufklärungsrate bei infektiös bedingten Aborten stellt die Wahl des geeigneten Probenmaterials dar, nämlich Fetus mit Plazenta und maternale Blutproben. Aufgrund des großen Erregerspektrums ist die Abortdiagnostik umfangreich und aufwendig.

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In the present study, the PRRSV status of pig farms displayed a significant influence on the prevalence of lung lesions in the slaughter pigs. Findings untypical for PRRS, including pleuritis, were also found significantly more often on those farms. This leads to the conclusion that other primary and/or secondary infections are involved, which can be exacerbated by the immunosuppressive effect of the PRRSV. There was a tendency for combined farms to be more severely affected than fattening farms.