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Review
. 2024 Jul 26:36:e00239.
doi: 10.1016/j.fawpar.2024.e00239. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Over a century of progress on Trichinella research in pigs at the United States Department of Agriculture: Challenges and solutions

Jitender P Dubey  1 , Peter C Thompson  1 , Valsin Fournet  1 , Dolores E Hill  1 , Dante Zarlenga  1 , H Ray Gamble  1 , Benjamin M Rosenthal  1
Affiliations
Review

Over a century of progress on Trichinella research in pigs at the United States Department of Agriculture: Challenges and solutions

Jitender P Dubey et al. Food Waterborne Parasitol. .

Abstract

Trichinellosis, caused by 13 species/subspecies/genotypes in the nematode genus Trichinella, is a worldwide zoonosis. In the United States, trichinellosis was of historical and economic significance because of European restrictions on the import of U.S. pork. Before the advent of effective protective measures, most cases of trichinellosis were derived from consumption of undercooked or inadequately processed, infected pork. Research conducted at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) since 1891, and policies established by USDA regulatory agencies, have helped to reduce Trichinella infections in commercially raised domestic pigs to negligible levels. Here, we review the history of this scientific progress, placing special emphasis on research conducted at the USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Keywords: Food safety; History; Pig (Sus Scrofa); Prevention; Public health; Trichinella spiralis; Zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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