Singh, B.B.Singh, Satinder Pal2019-10-172019-10-172018http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810131571Taenia solium cysticercosis remains a neglected zoonosis in the developing India. The current research was planned to fill research gaps essential to inform disease prevention and control programs in Punjab, India. Overall, 1132 pigs were post-mortem inspected. The tissue distribution of T. solium cysts in different muscles and organs of the pigs were determined. The cysts isolated from infected carcasses were molecularly confirmed using PCR targeting large subunit rRNA gene, internal transcribed spacer 1 gene, ITS1 gene and Cytochrome oxidase I gene. The selected PCR products were submitted for sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Choropleth map to understand the spatial distribution of the infection was developed. We recorded T. solium cysticercosis apparent prevalence of 2.12% (95% CI 1.43%-3.14%) and the true prevalence of 5.58% (95% CI 3.76%-8.25%) in naturally infected slaughter pigs in Punjab, India. We counted a mean of 985.57 (range 526-1964) cysts per infected pig from the 19 infected pig carcasses. The polymerase chain reaction confirmed the T. solium cysts from all the 24 positive samples. The phylogenetic analysis indicated all positive samples to be clustered with the T. solium Asian genotype. The pigs reared outside Punjab and sold for slaughter were significantly associated with the infection in Punjab, India. The Tricep brachi muscle was found to be a vital site for localisation of cysticerci in pigs in Punjab, India. The presence of heavily infected carcasses containing viable cysts indicates that T. solium cysticercosis is an important food safety concern for pork consumers in Punjab, India.ennullThesis