Impact of Traditional Practices on Food Safety: A Case of Acute Toxoplasmosis Related to the Consumption of Contaminated Raw Pork Sausage in Italy

Abstract

A case of acute toxoplasmosis in an adolescent girl, almost certainly related to the consumption of raw sausage, is described. The girl suffered of fever and weakness and presented a swollen lymph node in the submandibular region. Serology analysis was positive for Toxoplasma gondii and excluded other infections. Further analysis, with avidity test and immunoblot, confirmed the acute toxoplasmosis. She reported that about a month before the appearance of the symptoms, she had eaten a piece of raw sausage while it was being prepared by her father. We analyzed sausage samples prepared from this same batch that had been frozen for later consumption, and they demonstrated evidence of T. gondii DNA when using a specific nested PCR assay. The sausage was prepared from the meat of a pig that had been backyard raised and slaughtered at home, a traditional practice in rural communities in many countries. The tasting of fresh prepared raw sausage is a common practice throughout Italy, and it could be a major cause for toxoplasmosis as suggested by the results of a questionnaire administered in the province of Palermo, Sicily. Contact with cats and, to a lesser extent, raw salad consumption were also referred to as presumptive causes for the symptomatic cases. Two additional cases of acute toxoplasmosis reported during questionnaire administration were alleged to have been caused by the consumption of fresh sausage made with the meat of a pig raised in the yard. Traditional practices in animal farming, and the processing of meat from animals raised in the backyard or meat from wild game animals, might have a big impact on food safety.