Increased sensitivity for the diagnosis of Taenia saginata cysticercus infection by additional heart examination compared to the EU-approved routine meat inspection

In spite of the statutory meat inspection at abattoirs, Taenia saginata cysticercus infection in cattle remains an economically important parasitic disease for the livestock industry by affecting food safety. The routinely performed standard meat inspection protocol has a low diagnostic sensitivity...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food control 2011-06, Vol.22 (6), p.989-992
Main Authors: Eichenberger, Ramon Marc, Stephan, Roger, Deplazes, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bovine cysticercosis
cattle
cysticerci
cysticercosis
Cysticercus bovis
Diagnosis
diagnostic sensitivity
farms
food industry
food safety
heart
livestock and meat industry
Meat inspection
muscles
parasites
slaughterhouses
Switzerland
Taenia saginata
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Summary:In spite of the statutory meat inspection at abattoirs, Taenia saginata cysticercus infection in cattle remains an economically important parasitic disease for the livestock industry by affecting food safety. The routinely performed standard meat inspection protocol has a low diagnostic sensitivity for the detection of T. saginata cysticerci infections. Therefore, an abattoir trial aiming to increase the detection level was undertaken. In three EU-approved abattoirs, several additional heart incisions were performed in a total of 1088 slaughtered cattle originating from 832 farms throughout Switzerland. Cysticerci as putative parasitic lesions were classified by visual examination during meat inspection and confirmed microscopically and/or by molecular analyses. With the EU-approved routine meat inspection, bovine cysticercosis was diagnosed in 1.8% (20/1088) of the slaughtered animals. Additional incisions into the heart muscle revealed a further 29 cases, indicating that the prevalence was at least 4.5%. All infected animals originated from individual farms. This straightforward technique had a significantly higher sensitivity and is feasible for routine practice. It also confirms that the prevalence of this zoonotic parasite in the cattle population is underestimated based on the routine abattoir reports.
ISSN:0956-7135
1873-7129
DOI:10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.11.033