Studies of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pigs are important because they are part of the human food chain. The main routes of transmission of this agent are: carnivorism, fecal-oral and congenital. Six isolates of T. gondii from pigs of rustic farms were evaluated for virulence and pathogenicity. Tachyzoites suspension used in the tests was obtained by aspiration or by washing the peritoneal cavity of mice that had developed ascites. Each sample of living tachyzoites was inoculated into groups of five mice with inoculum of 10¹, 10², 10³, 10(4), 10(5) and 10(6) intraperitoneally. Half of the isolates (3/6) were lethal and caused clinical signs in Swiss albino mice. The minimum lethal dose was 10³ tachyzoites by inoculum. The death of mice that had acute infection occurred between 12 and 26 days post-inoculation. The other three isolates were not pathogenic or virulent for mice. All isolates of the area studied had a high ability to form cysts, what could increase the risk for infection through ingestion of infected animal tissues.
Toxoplasma gondii; isolates; swine; artisanal handling
