| dc.description.abstract | Taenia solium (T. solium) is a zoonotic tapeworm that is responsible for about a third of all
preventable epilepsy in humans, mainly in developing countries. In Europe, adequate
biosecurity of pig housing and proper meat inspection management have decreased the
incidence of T. solium taeniosis and cysticercosis. Pigs that are slaughtered at home may be
raised poorly and not undergo meat inspection. As a result, home slaughtered pork could be a
risk factor for exposure to T. solium. The aim of this study was to quantify the risk of human T.
solium exposure from home slaughtered pork, in comparison to the risk from controlled
slaughtered pork, in European countries. A quantitative production-to-consumption risk
assessment model (QMRA) was developed. Porcine prevalence data, the percentage of pigs
slaughtered at home, sensitivity of meat inspection, the cyst distribution in pork and pork
consumption in five different European countries were included. This was combined with
literature about cooking of pork, to calculate the number of infected pork portions eaten per
year in a country. Recognizing the uncertainties in the data, the model still clearly shows a ten
times higher prevalence of infected portions from home slaughtered pork compared to
controlled slaughtered pork. This difference is brought about by the higher prevalence of
cysticercosis in the pigs that are home raised and slaughtered. Meat inspection does not affect
the higher exposure from home slaughtered pork, because the sensitivity of meat inspection is
low in general when pigs have a mild infection. The model demonstrates that cooking meat
effectively decreases the number of infected pork portions and thus lowers the risk of exposure.
Besides the findings, this QMRA has shown the knowledge gaps and what kind of future
research is needed to improve the QMRA. This includes systematically reporting porcine
cysticercosis cases in slaughterhouses and studies on raw meat consumption in different
countries and cultures. Moreover, developing a dose response model for T. solium to estimate
the incidence of human taeniosis is recommended. When more data becomes available, this
QMRA model could be implemented in intervention strategies concerning T. solium in Europe
and beyond. | |
