Isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from Swine and Cattle

The isolation of toxoplasma was attempted from brains and diaphragmatic muscles of pigs and cattle obtained in a slaughterhouse in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Toxoplasma were isolated from 11 (73.3%) of 15 pools of 5 pigs each. In another trial, 13 (43.3%) of 30 individual pigs were positive as were 8 (9.4%) of 85 cattle, 6 of which were young. Toxoplasma gondii was only isolated from animals with complement-fixation test titers of 1:4 or higher. Pigs and cattle represent potential reservoirs of human toxoplasmosis, especially if raw or undercooked meat is ingested.