Xth ICT, August 2000

Epidemiological studies on animal and human trichinellosis in Estonia

¹ Department of Parasitology, Estonian Agricultural University, Kreutzwaldi 62, 51014 Tartu, Estonia.
² Laboratory of Parasitology. Instituto Superiore di Sanità. Rome, Italy.

^* Correspondence : T. Järvis. - Fax : +372 7 313 230. Tel.:+372 7 313 211 E-mail : parasit@eau.ee

Abstract

From 1992 to 1999, muscle samples from 814 sylvatic animals and 1,173 domestic and synanthropic animals were collected in 15 districts of Estonia ; the prevalence of trichinellosis ranged from 1.0 % to 79.4 % for sylvatic animals and from 0.6 % to 24.5 % for domestic or synanthropic animals and for animals from fur-bearing farms. The most important reservoirs of Trichinella in nature were the raccoon dog, the red fox, the lynx and the wolf. Three species of Trichinella (T. spiralis, T. nativa, and T. britovi) were identified by several types of PCR-based analyses. Meat from sylvatic animals was the main source of Trichinella infection for humans.