Evidence of Potential Gene Flow in Trichinella spiralis and in Trichinella britovi in Nature

During a study on the epidemiology of trichinellosis in Spain, 91 animals and 9 samples of sausages homemade with pork were found positive for Trichinella. Parasite identification at the species level was carried out by the polymerase chain reaction with a random primer on single muscle larvae. Seventy-one animals harbored Trichinella spiralis (17 domestic pigs, 53 wild boars, 1 fox), and 17 were infected with Trichinella britovi (1 domestic pig, 13 wild boars, 3 foxes). Sausages were infected with T. spiralis. Three wild boars (3.3% of infected animals) harbored both species. The presence of both T. spiralis and T. britovi in the same host suggests that infections with 2 isolates of the same species can also occur, permitting the gene flow within the species.