Epidemiological surveillance of cystic echinococcosis in rural population of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, 1997–2006

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is the most prevalent zoonosis in Tierra del Fuego. In 1997, ulrasonography (US) was selected as the method of choice for the development of population surveys for epidemiological surveillance and early diagnosis in rural population. The aim of this work was to present the results of the epidemiological surveillance of CE by means of US in rural population of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina between 1997 and 2006. The ultrasonographic diagnostic was realized once a year. The population was stratified in children (4 to 17 years) and adults. From each individual, name, age, sex, actual residence and origin were registered. The images compatible with cysts were graded according to location, number and characteristics. A total of 1400 rural inhabitants were examined for CE. From the total of studied individuals, 27 (1.9%) exhibited images compatible with cysts on the abdominal ultrasound scan. Thirteen of these persons were finally diagnosed as having CE. The overall prevalence of CE was 0.9%. This value is in accordance with the decrease in the prevalence observed in the definitive host and the intermediate hosts (sheep and cattle). The absence of cases in children during the studied period, evidence no transmission of the disease to humans in the recent past.