Congratulations to former One Health EJP PhD student Filip Dámek for his recent publication in Food and Waterborne Parasitology journal!

Filip worked at École nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort – EnvA and Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire – Anses on PhD project ToxSauQMRA to assess the hazard of the zoonotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii – an important public health risk. As part of his research, he conducted a quantitative microbiological risk assessment of T. gondii in pork carcasses and meat products.

Filip’s latest publication described a study investigating the inactivation of T. gondii in dry sausage and processed pork, and quantification of this pathogen in pig tissues before production.

Some main findings were:

• The burden of T. gondii varied within porcine shoulder, breast, ham and heart, and between them.
• The lowest parasite burden was observed in ham.
• The highest parasite burden was observed in the hearts.
• After one day, all tested recipes inactivated T. gondii in the meat products.

This research provides valuable input for future risk assessments aiming to estimate the relative contribution of different sources of T. gondii in human infections. This study contributes to better understanding the potential zoonotic risk of the parasite to humans from the food production chain from pork and its products.

Thanks to all co-authors for their contributions to this research paper.

Dámek, F., Fremaux, B., Aubert, D., Thoumire, S., Delsart, M., Martin, J. L., Vuillermet, S., Opsteegh, M., Jokelainen, P., Le Roux, D., Boireau, P., Villena, I., & Blaga, R. (2023). Inactivation of Toxoplasma gondii in dry sausage and processed pork, and quantification of the pathogen in pig tissues prior to production. Food and Waterborne Parasitology. 31, e00194.

Read this research article here.

Find more details on ToxSauQMRA project on our website.