M01036: Trichinella in wildlife 2004-2005

Study Duration: December 2004 to September 2005

Contractor: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

• Meat of domestic swine, wild boar, horses and other animal species may be infested with nematodes of the genus Trichinella. Consumption of meat infested with Trichinella can cause serious disease in humans.
• EU Regulation 2075/2005, which comes into force in January 2006, requires swine to be tested for Trichinella at slaughterhouses. However, the regulation states that pig holdings can be declared Trichinella free if a surveillance programme of wildlife susceptible to Trichinella is in existence and prevalence in the indicator wildlife species is below 0.5%.
• Research is required to obtain an estimated prevalence level (with 95% confidence limits) of Trichinella infection in Great Britain. It is also of interest to find out if the prevalence level is significantly lower than any European countries where Trichinella is known to be endemic in wildlife: e.g. France 1.7%, Poland 2.3-5.7%.

Approximately 700 foxes will be collected from around Great Britain and tested for Trichinella.

• During this survey, 666 foxes were collected. All muscle samples were negative for Trichinella.
• If the 1048 fox digests from earlier surveys are included (all were negative) we can be confident that the national prevalence of Trichinella is less than 0.13% (95% confidence).

The results from this survey will be used for applications to exempt the post-mortem testing of all fattening pigs and to provide risk-based information on the risk of Trichinella infection in UK pigs.

The final report is available from the Agency’s Information Centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk, Information Services, Food Standards Agency (tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email: infocentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk)

For any enquiries concerning this research project, please contact the relevant Programme contact or email: science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk