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Trichinellosis in Papua New Guinea
Author(s) -
OWEN IL,
SIMS LD,
WIGGLESWORTH MC,
PUANA I.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2000.tb10411.x
Subject(s) - domestic pig , biology , veterinary medicine , population , trichinella , larva , new guinea , zoology , helminths , ecology , geography , medicine , history , ethnology , environmental health , forestry
Objectives To describe the discovery in a domestic pig of the first case of trichinellosis in Papua New Guinea, caused by a new taxon within the genus Trichinella (T papuae). Also, to establish if the disease occurred in the local wild pig population and in domestic pigs elsewhere in the country, and to test if the worm was infective to some other animals. Procedure Fresh and fixed tissue samples were examined by the digestion method and histologically, respectively, for the non‐encapsulated larvae of T papuae. Feeding trials were conducted, using infected tissues and infective larvae, on animals under laboratory conditions. Results About 8.8% of a wild pig population in Western Province, adjacent to Irian Jaya, Indonesia, was found to be infected. Infection was not found in other local and feral animals or in domestic pigs from other parts of the country. Infection was experimentally established in cats, pigs and laboratory bred mice and rats. Conclusion Trichinellosis is confined to one remote locality in PNG. Domestic pigs in the initial case became infected, probably, by eating infected wild pig meat.