<i>Balantidium coli</i> in Pigs Regularly Slaughtered at Abattoirs of the Province of Messina: Hygienic Observations

Abstract

Balantidium coli is a zoonotic protozoan parasite, and pork is considered the major source of Balantidium infection in humans. Transmission is direct and commonly occurs through the ingestion of water and food, especially vegetables, contaminated with infectious cysts. Ingestion of meat contaminated, with faecal material during the evisceration process, can represent a potential risk of B. coli transmission. In order to determine the rate of B. coli infection in pigs regularly slaughtered at abattoirs in the province of Messina (Sicily, Italy), faecal samples of 242 pigs (122 commercial hybrid and 120 Nero Siciliano pigs) were collected and evaluated by standard methods for the presence of trophozoites and/or cysts. A total of 105 of the commercial hybrid (86.06%), but only 44 of the Nero Siciliano (36.66%) pigs, were identified as positive for B. coli infection. The results obtained, may be linked to the type of farming employed.

Copro-prevalence and risk factor assessment of gastrointestinal parasitism in Indian domestic pigs

“…The prevalence rate of Trichuris suis (6.43 %) was low and was similar to the reports from other tropical countries like Ghana (4.6 %) and Zimbabwe (4.2 %), by Permin et al, (1999) and Marufu et al, (2008), respectively. Ismail et al (2010) from Korea, Giarratana et al (2012) from Italy and Dey et al (2014) from Bangladesh reported higher prevalence rate of B. coli as 64.7 %, 36.66 % and 40 %, respectively which is contrary to the findings of the current study (4.5 %). Variation in prevalence of various species of GI parasites observed in the current study and other regions of the world, suggested that geographical location along with management practices including hygiene and deworming are the major determinants responsible.…”

Balantidium coli

“…Among the studies, prevalence and the intensity of infection varied between gender and age groups and in some cases opposite results were found between the studies, but probably the main factors affecting infection rates were the management practices at each farm and the veterinary care (Schuster and Ramirez-Avila, 2008). In general, facilities with cement floors, adequate cleaning protocols, and sewage disposal reduced the prevalence among pigs (Ismail et al, 2010;Giarratana et al, 2012;Weng et al, 2005;Yatswako et al, 2007; ).…”

Prevalencia de Balantidium coli en la población humana y porcina asociado a factores socioeconómicos y saneamiento ambiental en el Distrito de Acora Puno Perú

“…Diversos reportes señalan que la prevalencia de la enfermedad en el cerdo es alta que puede variar entre 60% y 90% (Acha & Szyfres, 2005; ) y en algunos casos puede llegar al 100% (Verweij & Rune Stensvold, 2014) y constituyen el principal reservorio para la infección humana (Uysal et al, 2009;Publisher et al, 2014); en granjas tecnificadas y semitecnificadas de Cundinamarca, Colombia se encontró el 42% de cerdos infectados con B. coli (Mendoza-Gómez et al, 2015); en la provincia de Messina, Italia se reportó 86,06% de porcinos híbridos comerciales y sólo el 36,66% de cerdos de la raza negro siciliano estaban infectados por el parásito (Giarratana et al, 2012); así como se reportó el 93% de prevalencia del parásito en cerdos de Ranchi, Jahrkahnd, India (Bauri et al, 2012) y en Mymensingh, Bangladesh se reportó una prevalencia de 34.62% (Rahman & Saha, 2015).…”