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Abstract
Trichinella spp., a known nematode infection, causes trichinellosis, a zoonotic
disease that is a public health hazard and an economic problem in swine production and
food safety. With the limited evidence of existence of Trichinella infection in the
Philippines, this study was conducted to check for its presence in pigs reared and
slaughtered in Los Baos, Laguna. A total of 30 diaphragm pillars were obtained from
pigs for slaughter in the local slaughterhouse of Los Baos, divided to 3 pools of 10
samples of 5g each sample. The pool samples were then artificially digested, and then
examined under a compound microscope. No Trichinella spp. larvae were observed in
all the samples. The result of our study suggests that Trichinella spp. has low prevalence
and is not endemic in Los Baos, Laguna.
INTRODUCTION
Trichinella spp. are known to be
one of the world's most widely-distributed
groups of nematode infection because of
its ability to infect a broad spectrum of
mammalian hosts (Despommier et al.,
2005). It is the causative agent of
Trichinellosis, a zoonotic disease, which
is a public health hazard and an
economic problem in swine production
and food safety (Angi et al., 2014).
Trichinellosis is common in areas of
traditional agriculture where swine are
mostly grown in small private farms with
RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend the use of higher
sample size to increase the odds of
finding Trichinella larvae in the samples,
which, together with increasing the
amount per sample, may compensate the
uneven and sporadic distribution of larvae
within the tissues (OIE Terrestrial Manual,
2012), increasing the chance of detection
if larvae are present. Moreover, the use of
tongue as the source of sample could be
considered. According to Pozio (2007),
tongue, as a predilection site, tops as the
site where Trichinella species prefer to
accumulate. It is followed by diaphragm
pillars (which is the sample source in the
current study), and then by masseter.
However, the nature of the tongue muscle
makes artificial digestion method less
efficient. Furthermore, samples taken
from pigs reared in backyard or free
range system could be considered
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to acknowledge the
assistance provided by the management
of the local slaughterhouse of Los Baos,
Laguna from where we obtained the
samples used in this study. We would
also like to express our gratitude to the
faculty and staff of Animal Dairy Sciences
Cluster, especially to Dr. EM Agbisit Jr.,
Dr. JMUP Hurtada, and Dr. RC Sulabo.