Abstract
Fasciola hepatica, the aetiological agent of fascioliasis in the Caribbean region, occurs throughout the major islands of the Greater Antilles and in localised zones on two islands (Martinique and Saint Lucia) of the Lesser Antilles. However, apart from Puerto Rico, information regarding human fascioliasis in islands of the Caribbean is out of date or unavailable, or even nonexistent as in Haiti. The authors conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional serological survey in Port-au-Prince using a Western blotting test (LDBIO Diagnostics) on human fascioliasis in Haiti. A total of 216 serum samples obtained from apparently healthy adults were tested. The frequency of antibodies in serum samples of the study population was 6.5% (14/216). The immunodominant bands recognised in Western blots were 27-28 kDa (100%), 42 kDa (64%), 60 kDa, and 8-9 kDa (28%). This is the first survey to reveal a relatively low proportion of asymptomatic F. hepatica-infected humans in Haiti.
Highlights
Fascioliasis, a snail-borne parasitic zoonosis, has been recognised for a long time because of its major veterinary impact
Fascioliasis has been detected at very high altitudes (3500–4200 meters) in various Andean regions
According to a study conducted by the Pan American Health Organization, fascioliasis is known to cause major losses to the meat industries in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica
Summary
Fascioliasis, a snail-borne parasitic zoonosis, has been recognised for a long time because of its major veterinary impact. It is caused by two trematode species of the Fasciola genus: F. hepatica, present in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania and F. gigantica, mainly distributed in Africa and Asia. The first autochthonous cases of human fascioliasis were not reported in Cuba until 1931 [5]. A relatively recent case of fascioliasis was reported in a 26-year-old woman native of Dominican. To the best of our knowledge, no cases of human fascioliasis have been reported in Haiti, zoonotic infection of man is known to occur in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A retrospective, cross-sectional, serological survey, testing sera provided by workers, was conducted in Port-au-Prince
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