Scenario of porcine cysticercosis and human taeniasis in Maharashtra State, India

Vilas Vaidya,Dhananjay Dighe,Rupesh Waghmare,Nilam Wavhal,Priyanka Jadhav,Ashish Paturkar,Mukulesh Gatne,Sujata Bhave,Shilpa Moon,Ravindra Zende

doi:10.3906/vet-1707-23

Abstract

Cysticercosis/taeniasis is one of the neglected parasitic zoonoses in developing countries like India. A study was conducted for a period of 7 years from 2010 to 2017 during which 13,596 pig and 1238 human samples were screened to learn the exact scenario of cysticercosis/taeniasis in the different regions of Maharashtra State. Prevalence of cysticercosis/taeniasis in pigs and humans was recorded using various diagnostic methods such as meat inspection and serological methods involving ELISA. The overall prevalence of cysticercosis in pigs was found to be 0.88% by postmortem examination and 0.9% by PCR assay, whereas prevalence of taeniasis in humans was 3.15% by ELISA and 2.04% by PCR. As compared to the previous reports from the state, the findings of the present study revealed a lowered prevalence of the disease in both the human and the pig population. It was concluded that the declining trend of cysticercosis in Maharashtra State was the outcome of the implementation of appropriate and sustainable public health interventions achieved through demonstrations and the distribution of booklets in the vernacular language.

Highlights

Cysticercosis, a ubiquitous disease of high economic and public health significance, is caused by Cysticercus cellulosae, the larval form of Taenia solium
Materials and methods This study was conducted between April 2010 and March 2017 by examining 13,596 pigs from different slaughterhouses/retail shops and pig farms and 1238 high-risk humans from different areas of Maharashtra by strict postmortem inspection, testing of samples using PCR assays with sequencing of PCR products, and serological methods, i.e. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), flow-through assay (FTA), and western blot (WB), for the detection of cysticercosis and taeniasis
The extracted DNA from cysts was subjected to PCR analysis with two sets of oligonucleotide primers based on amplification of the DNA for the identification of T. solium from the infected pigs

Summary

Introduction

Cysticercosis, a ubiquitous disease of high economic and public health significance, is caused by Cysticercus cellulosae, the larval form of Taenia solium. It mainly affects the health and livelihood of subsistence farming communities in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where pigs are allowed to roam freely with free access to night soil [1]. The disease is transmitted to humans by consumption of infective cysticerci in raw or undercooked pork or food and water contaminated with their eggs. The parasite commonly localizes in the central nervous system, causing neurocysticercosis, an emerging disease and one of the principal causes of epilepsy [2,3]. The existence of scavenging or stray pigs and lack of sewage disposal make it a serious zoonosis in India, and the illegal and uninspected slaughtering of pigs perpetuates the transmission cycle of the parasite [4].

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Conclusion