Risk of infection by the consumption of liver of chickens inoculated with low doses of Toxocara canis eggs

Abstract

Experimental studies and registries of cases of human toxocariasis have shown that the consumption of raw or undercooked offal of the paratenic host of Toxocara canis may pose a risk of infection. Thus, we evaluated the risk of infection due to the consumption of liver of chickens inoculated with different doses of embryonated T. canis eggs. Doses were 5-100 times smaller than the ones previously employed in this type of study. Groups of five chickens were inoculated with 5000 (control), 1000, 500, 300 or 50 eggs of T. canis, and at 72 h post-inoculation, the liver of each bird was consumed by a BALB/c receptor mouse. Forty-eight hours after consumption, we examined the organs and carcasses of the mice for larvae of T. canis. All mice were positive for larvae, except the group that consumed the chicken liver inoculated with 50 eggs. This group contained only one positive mouse, in which the larva was lodged in the brain. In mice that consumed livers of chickens inoculated with ≥300 eggs, larvae concentration was primarily in the liver and lungs, characterizing the initial phase of infection. We conclude that the consumption of raw poultry liver, under the studied conditions, poses a risk of infection even with a low number of infected T. canis eggs.

Histopathological lesions caused by experimental Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina infections in farm mink (Neovison vison)

“…This can happen during feed preparation on the farm. Such an infection route, by ingestion of infected tissue, was confirmed experimentally in mice fed chicken liver containing T. canis larvae (6). Taira et al .…”

The occurrence of Toxocara species in naturally infected broiler chickens revealed by molecular approaches

“…In recent years, many studies have been published using traditional methods for detection of Toxocara larvae in experimentally infected chickens (Galvin, 1964; Maruyama et al, 1994; Tiara et al, 2012; Dutra et al, 2014). Analysing the migration of Toxocara larvae using the pepsin digestion method, Tiara et al .…”

Human toxocariasis – A look at a neglected disease through an epidemiological ‘prism’

“…People can also become infected by ingesting larvae present in raw or undercooked meat or organs from paratenic hosts, such as rabbits, ruminants and poultry (cf. Dutra et al, 2014;Salem and Schantz, 1992;Taira et al, 2004;Yoshikawa et al, 2008). The apparent broad geographic distribution of Toxocara and multiple transmission routes indicate that toxocariasis is a common helminth infection in humans ( Fig.…”