Pat's Note: I have just been doing some checking. For once my use of Google
has rather let me down. Many articles dealing with toxoplasmosis, don't
actually use the word, prefering instead to talk about the actual parasite,
rather than the condition.

The explosive piece in the The Herald
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/67850.html this morning is merely
representative of many others along the same lines published all over the
place recently.

That makes it merely a matter of time before the French Food Standards
Agency allegations that Britain's Food Standards Agency has been covering up
toxoplasmosis in pigs, becomes common knowledge.

Even more explosive was the removal of the only article in the British media
from the WWW, overnight following publication. Fortunately, I caught it
during the short time frame it was available and, if you recall published it
on the newsgroup uk.business.agriculture.

For the convenience of readers, here again is the text of the supressed
article - and I follow it with the a report published in English on the
Continent dealing with the same allegations.

As you can see they differ and from the dates you can see that it was
probably the French publication that forced the UK pig industry to publish
an article, which was quickly removed almost certainly as a result of
pressure from the British Food Standards Agency.

http://www.npa-uk.net/

June 13

Toxoplasmosis endemic in British pigs, claims French expert

By Digby Scott

According to some researchers, outdoor pigs are over 20 times more likely to
be infected with toxoplasma gondii than indoor pigs.

And now a respected French food safety expert, Dr Pascal Boireau, is
claiming toxoplasmosis is endemic in the British national herd, where about
a third of sows are kept outdoors.

This claim could have important implications for the way British pork is
marketed.

As trichinella has not been detected in British pigmeat for 26 years
consumers are gradually being weaned off the idea that pork has to be
overcooked to be safe.

All the evidence suggests that slightly pink pork is perfectly safe, and
certainly more succulent and tender.

But if  toxoplasma gondii really is becoming a problem in outdoor pigs - and
the evidence has yet to be produced - pork may once again be seen as a meat
that must be handled with special care.

Outdoor producers might therefore consider intensifying rodent control. They
should also do what they can to discourage cats, which shelter toxoplasma
gondii in their faeces. It will also be helpful if Defra decides to kill-out
the pockets of feral wild boar in Britain.
Pigs can be infected with toxoplasma gondii through ingesting contaminated
feed, water, and soil, and by eating infected rodents.

Toxoplasma gondii infection in food-producing animals is acknowledged as a
potential public health problem by the Food Standards Agency. Infection can
be transmitted to humans through the handling and consumption of raw or
undercooked meat containing the organism.

Although it does not present a hazard to normally healthy adults it  can
pose a threat to unborn children and to immunocompromised individuals such
as the ill and elderly.

It has been shown by researchers that pigs kept indoors are far less likely
to be infected with the organism. Conversely, the problem of infection with
outdoor pigs may be greater than was hitherto supposed.

Researchers in Brazil found over 86 percent of outdoor pigs tested had
antibodies to toxoplasma gondii.

There is also evidence that the prevalence of toxoplasma gondii increases
with age.

Dr Pascal Boireau, a director of the French equivalent of the United
Kingdom's
Food Standards Agency, has suggested Britain is underplaying the risk of
contracting toxoplasmosis from British pigmeat.

He claims the toxoplasmosis threat is real and probably growing, and says
more studies are needed, especially into animal-to-animal transmission.

He acknowledges the truth in Britain's claim that the national pig herd is
free of the parasite trichinella but says no such claim can be made for
toxoplasmosis.

He is also concerned about the situation in France where there are greater
opportunities for outdoor pigs to be cross-contaminated from wild boar,
where infection rates are running at 10-20 percent.

http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/3364/French_scientist_wa
rns_of_dangerous_parasite_in_UK_pigs.html

French scientist warns of dangerous parasite in UK pigs

By Rick Pendrous

Published:  12 June, 2006

The UK is underplaying the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis from
home-reared pig meat, according to a French food safety expert who claims
the parasite that causes the disease is endemic in the national herd.

Dr Pascal Boireau, a director at AFSSA, the French equivalent of the UK's
Food Standards Agency (FSA), and a specialist in parasitic contamination of
the food chain is carrying out research into the extent of the infection in
his own country. He said the threat was real and probably growing, but more
studies were needed, especially into animal to animal transmission.

Although there are no figures to show the extent of infection in the UK, the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) denies that
toxoplasmosis is endemic. Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency, which is
more candid about its existence, warns pregnant women - who are at higher
risk - against handling and eating raw and undercooked pork cuts, mince, and
ready-meals.

Since the 1960s, when the UK herd was declared free of the potentially
dangerous parasitic zoonoses trichinella, consumer advice from the Meat and
Livestock Commission (MLC)¬ has implied that rare pork was no longer a
source of danger. Boireau disagrees. "The UK is OK for trichinella, but for
toxoplasmosis, no," he said.

Elsewhere advice is confused. In the Irish Republic rare pork is declared
safe to eat, while Northern Ireland follows the FSA's line, creating
problems for organisations giving dietary advice across the island of
Ireland.

Although toxoplasmosis can also be found in the soil and is known to be
present in cat faeces, Boireau claims "80% of contamination is from meat".

He is particularly concerned about outdoor reared pork and the potential for
cross contamination from wild boar, among whom infection rates in France are
running at 10 to 20%.

At a meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food
held at the FSA headquarters last week, the potential dangers of consumers
contracting Heptitis E from undercooked pork joints were also highlighted.

In France, where there is still a problem with trichinella infected horse
meat, Boireau's team is working on an automated microscopic technique for
measuring trichinella larvae in muscle using artificial digestion. The
technique will be presented at a scientific conference later this year.