Prevalence of porcine cysticercosis and associated risk factors in Homa Bay District, Kenya

Eric E Eshitera,Evalyn W Mwihia,Fred Ojiambo,Leslie Js Harrison,Lian F Thomas,Ndichu Maingi,Samuel M Githigia,Eric M Fèvre,Philip Kitala,Richard O Otieno

doi:10.1186/1746-6148-8-234

Abstract

BackgroundTaenia solium is an important zoonosis in many developing countries. Cysticercosis poses a serious public health risk and leads to economic losses to the pig production industry. Due to scarcity of data on the epidemiology of porcine cysticercosis in Kenya, the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors for porcine cysticercosis within Homa Bay district. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2010, and a total of 392 pigs were recruited in a household survey, with all being tested by ante-mortem lingual palpation (together with questionnaire data on pig production, occurrence and transmission of porcine cysticercosis, risk factors and awareness of porcine cysticercosis collected from the households from which pigs were sampled). Sufficient serum was collected from 232 of the pigs to be tested for the presence of circulating parasite antigen using a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ag-ELISA).ResultsSeventy six pigs were found positive by the Ag-ELISA (32.8%, 95% C.I. 26.8-39.2%), while by tongue inspection cysticerci were detected in 22/ 392 pigs (5.6% 95% C.I. 3.6-8.4%).The most important risk factor for porcine cysticercosis in the Homa Bay area was for pigs to belong to a farm where latrine use by members of the household was not evident (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.13–2.37).ConclusionThe present findings indicate that porcine cysticercosis is endemic in Homa Bay District, and that latrine provision, in conjunction with free-range pig keeping contributes significantly to porcine cysticercosis transmission.

Highlights

Taenia solium is an important zoonosis in many developing countries
In Kenya, little epidemiological work has been done on T. solium taeniosis-cysticercosis, and it is assumed to be rare [5,6] and few cases have been reported in pigs during routine meat inspection
Of the variables introduced in the logistic regression model lack of evidence of latrine use remained the only significant variable associated with seropositivity for porcine cysticercosis in the study (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Taenia solium is an important zoonosis in many developing countries. Cysticercosis poses a serious public health risk and leads to economic losses to the pig production industry. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2010, and a total of 392 pigs were recruited in a household survey, with all being tested by ante-mortem lingual palpation (together with questionnaire data on pig production, occurrence and transmission of porcine cysticercosis, risk factors and awareness of porcine cysticercosis collected from the households from which pigs were sampled). The lingual examination method has been used to detect palpable cysts, which may indicate porcine cysticercosis This method has a low sensitivity, only capable of detecting cysts in heavily infected pigs, reducing its utility as a diagnostic tool [8]. Githigia et al [5] examined a total of three hundred pigs in South Nyanza and one hundred and seven pigs in Busia, Kenya, using the lingual palpation method and reported prevalence estimates of 10% and 14%, respectively. Acknowledging the low sensitivity of this method it can be expected that these prevalence figures underestimate the true picture of porcine cysticercosis in the regions studied

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion